Blessings in Disguise
by Aria6
Summary: Axel is a paranoid schizophrenic. Roxas loves him more than anything and together they've been coping with his illness. But then everything changes and Axel's madness could be the key to their survival... please read and review!
1. Chapter 1

Roxas could still remember the first time he saw Axel.

They were only ten years old. Axel had just been expelled from another school for beating another boy up. Roxas' best friend at the time, Sora, hadn't liked the redhead immediately. In retrospect Roxas could see why. Axel had already had his tattoos and who gave tats to a child that young? It had been the first hint that Axel's family background was very bad.

That hadn't repelled ten year old Roxas at all. Quite the opposite really. He'd thought Axel was the most amazing thing he'd ever seen with his beautiful red hair, flashing green eyes and tattoos on his cheeks. The way the other boy had such a ready smile and was always willing to talk quickly drew Roxas out. Something between them just clicked and they'd become fast friends. The friendship had only deepened over the years and when Roxas finally saw the bruises he insisted Axel come to live with him. His parents hadn't really been happy but had finally folded to their sons' unrelenting pressure. Living together had been a new experience for the two boys and they had become lovers at fifteen. Roxas didn't regret it for a moment. He loved everything about Axel, loved his quick intelligence, his outgoing personality and his warm, calloused hands.

"Have you taken your pills?" Roxas asked Axel and the redhead wrinkled his forehead, struggling to think about it. It was always a struggle for him. Finally he shook his head.

"I don't think so." He said honestly and Roxas smiled sadly, going to check the bill box. Sure enough, the part labeled Tuesday was still unused. He opened the little box and scooped out the pills. "Sorry. I… wasn't sure what day it was." Axel admitted, looking down. Roxas gently touched his cheek for a moment, meeting those green eyes as Axel looked up. They weren't happy and flashing anymore. They were tired and depressed. It made his heart hurt to see.

"It's fine Axel. That's why I check." Roxas said soothingly and Axel managed a weak smile. "Here. I'll get you some water." He handed the redhead his pills and fetched him a glass of water. Soon the pills were gone and Roxas wasn't worried that Axel might try to throw them up later. These pills actually seemed to be working and didn't have the side effects of the last batch. It did come with truly hideous side effects of it's own but they hadn't appeared yet. Hopefully they wouldn't appear at all but Axel was being given regular blood tests to monitor that. If they did, Roxas wasn't sure what they'd do.

"Thanks Roxy." Axel managed another smile and it looked real this time. "I'm going to clean up the garage today. Start another project." That was Axel's 'work'. He couldn't hold down any kind of job, even trying would have been madness but he could do woodwork in the garage. His efforts were selling fairly well on Etsy. It was just a pittance but it helped Roxas a bit. Even with disability and state assistance for Axel's medical treatments, it was hard looking after everything by himself.

"I'm glad you're feeling better." Roxas murmured and gave Axel a kiss. The redhead held him for a moment and Roxas felt the familiar warmth and pleasure of feeling Axel's muscled arms around him, hearing his beating heart. "I'll be back at the usual time." That was six o'clock. Axel nodded. He always tried to have supper ready for when Roxas got home. Sometimes it wasn't that good, especially if Axel lost track of what he was doing, but Roxas had gotten used to that.

Roxas biked to work as he always did and reflected sadly on his lover. He'd first started to notice something was wrong when Axel was seventeen. The redhead had been getting irritable with everyone and complaining about buzzing in his ears. It had gradually gotten worse until Axel was a twitching bundle of nerves. Roxas had come home one day to find him curled into a ball and crying, utterly terrified of the family cat. That was when it had all come out… that the buzzing had turned into voices and Axel was seeing red eyes and demonic possessions everywhere. He'd been quickly diagnosed with paranoid schizophrenia and Roxas' parents had wanted him out. They didn't want to deal with something that frightening and potentially dangerous. Axel had gone, but Roxas had gone with him.

_Why are you sacrificing your life for him?_

_Because I love him._

It had been a hard road to walk but it helped that Axel was rarely violent in his delusions and hallucinations. He just curled up and tried to hide from the demons and it made Roxas' heart break to see. Axel had been the strong, daring one when they were younger. It seemed so cruel that a defect of his brain chemistry was robbing him of so much.

"Maybe these drugs will work." Roxas reminded himself. Axel's problem had proven to be drug resistant which wasn't exactly uncommon with schizophrenia. The new drug he was on, Clozapine, was a last resort drug. It was very effective and Axel was already doing much better but the side effects were potentially lethal. When the box for a drug came with huge warnings it was never a good sign. Axel already preferred it though. The earlier drugs he'd been on hadn't worked and had caused him to gain weight on top of it. Roxas still thought pudgy Axel had been endearing but Axel vehemently disagreed. Smiling at the thought, Roxas entered the little bookstore he worked at.

"Roxas! There's a new shipment of books in that need to be put up." The owner immediately greeted him with tasks, but that was fine. Roxas nodded as he set down his backpack behind the counter.

"I'm on it." Roxas knew his parents were very disappointed in him. He'd had the marks to go to college and become a doctor or lawyer if he wanted. But he couldn't go to college and take care of Axel at the same time. Still… if only these new pills worked and Axel didn't develop side-effects, maybe he could even get a job. It would have to be something very low stress though. Axel didn't cope well with stress anymore.

The day passed by quickly. Roxas rather enjoyed his job. He enjoyed working with people and loved the bookstore, especially the bookstore cat. She was named Esmerelda and was sleeping on a pillow in the window, enjoying the sun and enticing people to stop by. Roxas wasn't sure if it was her or just the nature of the bookstore but something was working. The independent bookstore was always very busy. It was unusual in a day and age when chain stores were king. Roxas was idly petting Esmerelda when the front door opened with a tinkle. He looked up with a smile then blinked.

"Axel?" The redhead looked good, smiling and wearing a dark brown bomber jacket. It was old and frayed but kept him warm enough. Roxas' voice sharpened with concern. "Is everything okay?" Axel very rarely came to visit him at work. It was a long walk through the busy part of town and Axel made the owner a bit nervous. She knew all about the days off Roxas needed to take to help Axel with his illness.

"It's fine Roxy." Axel said with a smile and lifted up a brown paper bag. "You forgot your lunch." Roxas checked his bag and realized, to his chagrin, that Axel was right.

"Thank you." Roxas took the bag and their fingers lingered together for a moment. "That was very thoughtful." He murmured, meeting beautiful green eyes. Axel laughed and caught his chin, leaning in for a quick kiss.

"Always so formal Roxy." He gently teased and Roxas blushed in embarrassment and pleasure. Embarrassment because Axel was right, he was too formal. Pleasure because Axel sounded so _normal._ When his disease was acting up or the meds weren't working Axel could get terribly depressed. Right now you wouldn't have known anything was wrong. "I'm feeling good so I thought I'd head over to the mall and get some food for the cat. You need anything?" Roxas thought about it for a moment. They definitely needed cat food. What else did they need?

"Some sandwich meat, milk and store cola?" Axel made a face and Roxas knew why. The cheap store brands were terrible. "And some bread? Get everything as cheap as you can." Axel sighed and nodded.

"Right, I know." Axel was well aware of the finances. He often balanced the checkbooks when he was feeling well enough. "But I'm not getting bologna. I don't care if it's cheapest." He said firmly. Roxas laughed. Axel had been fed bologna every day as a child and hated it.

"The next up from bologna would be fine." That would probably be ham and that was fine with Roxas. Axel nodded, trying to commit everything to memory. Roxas was sure he'd forget something but that was okay. He could just get it later and this way he wouldn't have to carry as much when he did. "Thanks Axel."

"No problem." Axel smiled, eyes sparkling with pleasure. He liked being useful when he could. Roxas watched him go and hoped wistfully that things stayed this way.

When he got home Roxas breathed in deeply. The smell of good, home cooking was everywhere and it was wonderful. He set down his bag and walked into the kitchen to see Axel humming and cleaning off the counter. There was a pumpkin pie there and Roxas lifted his eyebrows before smiling at the one dollar sticker.

"Hi Roxy! Guess what we're having for supper?" Axel asked happily and Roxas smiled, going to grab some dishes as Axel pulled something out of the oven.

"I don't know. What?" From the smell some kind of meat was involved but he wasn't sure what. Axel laughed.

"You're no fun. Pork tenderloin with an apricot glaze and roasted veggies and potatoes." Roxas felt his mouth watering already. "And yes dear, the pork was on sale."

"I wasn't going to ask actually." Axel grinned as he let the pork sit. It needed to cool a bit and the let the juices settle. "So how was your day?"

"Great! Although I got caught beside some old bitch trying to use a zillion coupons and most of them were expired. Why do people do that Roxy?" Axel sounded disgruntled and Roxas laughed. He could just imagine Axel whistling and reading a magazine to stay calm as the cashier tried to sort it out.

"They've forgotten how to read? Careful though, you might end up being that person someday." Roxas teased him gently. Axel made a face.

"If I'm ever that person, shoot me. Well, I think this is ready." Axel cut into the pork and Roxas immediately dug in, blinking at the edge of heat in the pork. Axel caught the look on his face and grinned. "I put red pepper flakes and cumin into the glaze."

"Oh. Is that a recipe?" Axel was an okay cook but he generally wouldn't think to do things like that without some kind of prompting. The redhead nodded.

"I got it off Chow. You can make it in a toaster oven." Roxas blinked at that but there were some pretty fancy toaster ovens out there.

"That would make it nice for a dorm student." They chatted a bit longer about Axel's day and Roxas mentioned a few of the more interesting customers that had come to visit the store. Then… "Mom wants to know if we'll be coming over for Sunday brunch." Roxas made the statement as neutral as possible. Axel had been thirteen when he'd come to live with them and in many ways, his parents were a substitute family for the redhead. But they were keenly aware that Axel was not their child and so was he. Axel hesitated then sighed.

"I suppose I should." He didn't sound at all enthusiastic though. Roxas' parents' refusal to help support him with his illness had hurt and so had their negativity about Roxas going with him. Roxas took his hand and gave him a gentle squeeze.

"You don't have to if you don't want to." Roxas understood perfectly why Axel wasn't comfortable around his parents. He felt exactly the same way. The redhead managed a smile.

"No, I should. They didn't have to take me in at all. It's okay Roxy, I can handle it. Besides, your mom makes great waffles." Roxas blinked and laughed.

"You're terrible. All it takes to get you is some sweets." He teased and Axel grinned.

"Hey little boy, want some candy…?" Axel managed a very good pervert impression and Roxas laughed. "You know, maybe we could do some roleplay with that. What do you think?"

"I think you're a pervert. And it sounds great. We could get some of those necklace things from the dollar store and use them to make handcuffs." Of course, it would just be for show unless they used a whole lot. Even then Roxas would probably be able to get out if he really tried. Axel looked highly entertained by the idea.

"Candy handcuffs, hah! And we can eat them afterwards. Oooh, we can get some chocolate syrup too." His voice dropped to a seductive purr. "I'd love to coat your cock in it and then…" Roxas swallowed hard as he imagined the 'and then.' Axel really was feeling good today, although the one thing his illness had never affected much was their sex life.

"Cool it down a bit, or we'll have to do something right now and then I won't finish my supper. And this is really good." The bite of heat in the meat was excellent. Axel grinned but desisted. He wanted to finish his supper too. "And that pumpkin pie looks nice."

"Yeah, it's the kind with real cream on it. I couldn't believe it when I saw it in the clearance rack." Axel said happily and Roxas just hoped there was no mold on it. But he was sure Axel had checked thoroughly. "It was cold when I touched it so it couldn't have been there long."

"Ah, that's good." Soon they were finished the pork and were each eating a piece of pie. It wasn't nearly as good as Roxas' mother's home cooking, the crust was a bit hard and heavy but the pie itself was nice enough. And the cream helped a lot. "Want some coffee?" Roxas thought that would go perfectly with the pie and there was still a half-pot from the morning. Axel nodded.

"Sure." Roxas microwaved the coffee and pulled out the two steaming mugs with a smile. "Want to watch curling while we eat?" The rule was that they ate supper at the table, but desserts and snacks were fine in front of the TV. It was a rule his parents had enforced strictly but Roxas and Axel had both rather enjoyed it. Axel nodded.

"Sure." He had no particular interest in curling but Roxas liked it and Axel found it rather soothing. Like chess on ice. They watched the curling until the end of the match then went to bed.

What happened there didn't involve candy loops or chocolate syrup, but it was wonderful just the same.

* * *

Roxas smiled sleepily as he felt Axel shift beside him. It was Saturday and they could both sleep in as long as they pleased. He felt the redhead sit up then bend over him, felt the warm of him as Axel gave him a gentle kiss. Roxas whimpered faintly as Axel slid off the bed, missing his warmth. But then there was the smell of coffee and the blonde relaxed back into a doze. It felt so good to just be lazy on a Saturday morning –

There was a change in the sound from the other room and Roxas wrinkled his nose. The door had slammed, Axel going to get the paper? But he was moving too quickly now. Roxas didn't want to wake up but the disruption in the usual routine was tugging at his consciousness. Then the bed dipped as Axel sat down beside him and Roxas stirred as the redhead shook his shoulder.

"Roxas, wake up. I think you need to call the hospital." Axel's tone was even and steady but Roxas woke up fully at that. He could hear the tension underneath the redhead's voice. "The sky looks wrong." The sky? That was new. Roxas woke up fully and sat up, rubbing his eyes.

"I'll call them right away." He got out of bed, ignoring his nakedness and grabbed the phone. Axel usually knew when he was slipping and the sky being wrong was a very strange development – Roxas blinked. "There's no dial tone." Frowning, he set down the receiver and glanced around. "Is the power out?" Axel blinked and glanced at the kitchen.

"Uh…" He went to check as Roxas got dressed. "Yes, it is. I didn't notice because that silly coffee pot has batteries." Roxas smiled at that. His friend Sora had gotten it for him when he'd mentioned he and Axel could only afford to go camping for vacation. "The lights aren't working."

"Hmm. Maybe there's a power failure." Although that shouldn't affect the phone. Should it? "Let's go over to Mary's and see if she can give us a ride." That was an elderly neighbor who was still a good driver and usually had time on her hands. Hopefully she'd help them for a few dollars. Axel nodded, expression serious and Roxas gently hugged him. "Don't worry. The doctor's will help."

"I hope so." Axel sounded so discouraged though. They'd really hoped this drug would be the one. It was said to have a very good success rate if the side-effects didn't show up. Roxas smiled bravely and took his hand. They walked out the door –

"Glargh?!?" Axel stared at Roxas as he stared at the sky. It was an odd, slightly greenish shade and the sun above them was a brilliant white. Roxas gripped Axel's arm tightly as he gazed around. Axel had only mentioned the sky but it was far more than that.

The town was gone. Their little rental house was sitting beside a dirt road in the middle of a forest. The trees were strange, with smooth grey bark and odd little black patterns. The leaves were big and shaped vaguely like an oak tree. Roxas was no connoisseur of trees but he'd never seen anything like them before. On the ground there was a thick carpet of bushes, fungi and the occasional flower. Roxas recognized dandelions but the miniature roses fighting them for space were quite unfamiliar.

"Wait, you see it too?" Axel asked, suddenly excited. Roxas nodded, speechless. "I'm not crazy? That's great!" Roxas stared at him and Axel's smile faded. "No, wait. That's terrible. What happened?"

"I don't know. But I need some coffee." Roxas dragged Axel back inside, desperate for coffee spiked with something stronger.

He had no idea what to do.


	2. Travelling Sucks

"What should we do Roxas?" Axel was sounding lost and frightened as he gripped his steaming mug of coffee. Roxas tried to think. He would need to take charge here. Axel just wasn't good in a crisis anymore, he didn't trust his own reactions.

"Well." Roxas thought hard as he sipped his coffee. "Let's assume for a moment that something has happened to us." Axel nodded. "Rather than the rest of the world. We could stay here and hope they manage to find us." From his expression, Axel didn't think much of that idea.

"But Roxy, we don't have much food here." Roxas grimaced and nodded. The pantry was full of tins but how long would they last? And the stuff in the fridge and freezer would be going bad soon. Not to mention that they needed heat to cook most of it. "And what if – what if this is just in our heads?" Axel sounded seriously worried and Roxas sighed.

"Then we're both going to be taking a one way trip to the rubber room. But I don't think this is a delusion." Roxas almost wished it was. "It's nothing like your usual problems and I don't think you can share hallucinations." Axel swallowed and nodded before drinking a bit more of his coffee. Roxas followed suit. There was no point in wasting it. "The other option is to go exploring."

"That would mean leaving a lot behind. We don't have any good backpacks." Axel frowned, thinking about it. Roxas nodded. They'd realized that when they first went camping and had been planning to ask Roxas' parents to buy them better ones as a Christmas gift. "Unless… hey, that was a road out there wasn't it?" Roxas blinked as Axel suddenly became enthusiastic. "We can use the wagon!"

"The what?" Roxas suddenly remembered. There was a little red wagon in the garage. He'd gotten it for a cousin but hadn't managed to deliver it yet. "Axel, that's a children's toy!" But Axel wasn't deterred.

"It's a good one though and it has wheels. We could pack all kinds of stuff into it, put a tarp over top and strap it down with nylon cord. I know we have that." Roxas hesitated, thinking about it. This was a surprisingly good idea. "And don't we have a wheelbarrow too? Although that would be a pain to push." Roxas considered it and found he liked the idea. They couldn't assume there was water nearby so they'd need to bring plenty of water bottles, food, the coffee pot and batteries for it, just to name a few things. "The tarp we can use as a tent, sort of." They didn't have a tent either. They'd rented one to go camping. "We'll need to bring blankets too…" Axel looked around. "Do we have a pen anywhere? We should make a list."

"Good idea." Roxas found a pencil and pad and began jotting things down. Soon they had a comprehensive list of everything they should bring with them. Although… "I hate to say it but should we really bring Aristotle?" Axel looked horrified before Roxas explained. "We could just let him go in the backyard. He's a cat, Axel, he'll probably survive."

"No! He's a Himalayan Roxy. His fur will get matted horribly and what if something eats him?" Axel said and Roxas sighed, writing down cat food. "We have a carrier and his leash. We can take him."

"Right." Aristotle was a very smart cat and would actually walk on his leash, but only for so long. Cats slept far more than humans so they'd have to carry him most of the time. "Here, read this over. Have we forgotten anything?" Roxas passed his list to the redhead who read it over carefully. Then he suddenly grinned.

"Can opener!" He said happily and Roxas blinked, looking over the list. Sure enough, it wasn't there.

"Oh god." He quickly added it. "Can you imagine? Stopping for supper and realizing we'd forgotten the can opener? We'd have to go back." Axel winced at the thought. "Hmm. This is quite a list. I'll put stars near the important stuff." Roxas thought they might have to leave some of it behind. He put stars next to the food and water, then worked his way through the list. They were beginning to pack up the wheelbarrow and wagon when Axel hesitated.

"Roxas?" Roxas looked up, a bit worried by the tone in his voice. "I – I just realized. My pills. There's only enough for two more days." Axel's expression was worried and Roxas winced. The doctors never gave them more than a weeks supply, because they didn't want any accidents and wanted to ensure that Axel would come in for his weekly blood tests. That wasn't a pleasant thought but there was very little they could do about it.

"We've managed before. We can manage again." He said firmly and Axel chewed his lip before nodding. Roxas mentally added 'sunglasses' to the list of items to bring. It was bizarre but wearing sunglasses sometimes helped Axel ignore the 'demon possession' hallucinations. "Here, hold this." Axel held the line in place as Roxas pulled it under the wagon. Pretty soon everything was tightly in place. "I think that does it."

"We should eat something before we go. Something that won't keep." Axel suggested and Roxas nodded, thinking.

"Salad and fruit." The crisper had a bag of green peppers as well as some sliced salad and the fruit bowl was full of apples. The apples might last a while but they were too bulky to carry. The potatoes and onions they were bringing would last longer. Axel nodded.

"Sounds good." Soon they each had big bowls of ranch salad with apple slices on the side. They polished it off quickly and then had to spend quite a big of time finding the cat. With an unerring instinct for when something was happening he wouldn't like, Aristotle had hidden himself under the couch. It finally required a broom and some swearing but they got him out and into his carrier. "You'd think we're taking him to the vet." Axel grumbled as he carefully shut the door to the carrier. The Himalayan cat poked a soft paw through the bars in a pleading gesture. "Sorry Ari. It's this or we let you go outside, to a place with no brushes and treats. Hey, did we get his brush?"

"Uh, no. Here it is." Roxas hesitated then put it in his own pocket. "We ready?"

"I think so." Axel carried Ari and pulled the wagon behind him. The wagon had the lighter things in it but carrying the cat and pulling it was awkward. Roxas manned the wheelbarrow which was exhausting but simpler. They also had backpacks filled with other things they might need and Roxas felt a bit like a packhorse. They walked quietly for a long time, glancing occasionally at the trees. They were all so odd but some of the wildlife looked extremely familiar. Roxas saw what he could have sworn was a squirrel darting through the trees. "Want to trade off?" Axel finally asked and Roxas nodded.

"Please." Roxas took over the cat and the wagon. At first it was a relief on his hands but it quickly began to strain a completely different set of muscles. "I'm hating this already." Axel grinned, a bit of sweat rolling down his face. He was already starting to look a little flushed despite the brown hiking hat Roxas had found for him. He was sure the redhead was going to be sunburned soon. Roxas felt much the same, but unlike Axel he eventually tanned.

"Already? We've just started!" Axel said teasingly. "At least we know this isn't a shared delusion." He added and Roxas blinked.

"How do we know that?" For all he knew someone was about to tase them and put them away. How could Axel be so sure it was otherwise? The redhead shrugged and pointed at the road.

"Because if this were really the road outside our house on Saturday morning, we'd already be roadkill." He said and Roxas nodded.

"Good point." The road outside their house was extremely busy. This one was anything but. It was also nothing but dirt, but well packed and dry. Roxas coughed a little as Axel's wheelbarrow sent up puffs of dust.

They had no idea where they were going but the road had to lead somewhere.

* * *

Several days later, they hadn't found anything except for a small pond. That had been useful for refilling their water bottles although Roxas had worried a little about diseases. He remembered hearing that you needed to use chlorine tablets on water when you were in the wilderness to avoid beaver fever. He wasn't sure if beaver fever was the proper name but in general it sounded likely. Axel had pointed out that they didn't have chlorine tablets and no water would kill them more surely than any disease. There hadn't been much Roxas could say to that.

"Roxy, I don't feel so good." Axel said, glancing around nervously and Roxas bit his lip. They'd run out of his medication the previous day.

"Are you hearing anything?" He asked and Axel shook his head.

"Nothing. It's too quiet." Roxas blinked. That was very new. Too quiet? "I feel like something's listening." Roxas hesitated then gently touched Axel's arm, trying to comfort him. The redhead looked very distressed, almost scared. "There's silence in my head. It's pushing on me. I don't understand it."

"Well, it's better than voices." From his expression Axel wasn't sure of that but he nodded. "Just tell me if you start seeing anything, okay?" Roxas patted his arm and Axel managed a smile.

"Thanks. Hey, want to stop? I think Ari needs to go." Roxas nodded. They were taking frequent breaks to rest themselves and let the cat tend to her needs. They probably weren't making very good time but that was just the way it went. Axel set down the carrier and opened it, gently extracting Aristotle. He suffered having his leash put on patiently and Axel sat down in the grass, holding the other end as the cat explored. Roxas pulled out a bit of the hard food and put some water in a bowl for him. Soon Ari was having a drink and clearly enjoying his time out of the carrier. The two travelers watched their cat eating grass, just enjoying the sunshine and the quiet day. Axel idly picked up a leaf, examining it. "The shape is all wrong. Yet, that's a poplar over there, isn't it?" Roxas followed Axel's gesture and nodded. "This place is so strange."

"Yeah. I wonder if there's any berries or edible mushrooms?" Roxas was sure he could recognize chanterelles. There was only one poisonous mushroom that resembled them but it was very easy to tell the difference. Axel shook his head.

"No mushrooms. We're surrounded by alien trees, what if there's something you couldn't recognize?" Roxas winced at the thought and nodded. Axel definitely had a point. "But if we see any raspberries or blueberries, sure." He was sure they could recognize those.

"Mmm, yes." Roxas sighed and looked at the wagon. "Want a snack?"

"Sure." Axel replied, scratching his nose. He'd developed the anticipated sunburn and was peeling badly. Roxas stood and went to the wagon, taking out the last of the bread and cheese. It was starting to get moldy and the cheese was slimy but it was still edible and the last of the perishable supplies. From now on, they'd be eating potatoes and tinned food spiced with salt and pepper. Axel had insisted on bringing a big bag of salt and the jar of peppercorns, along with the grinder. Roxas thought it was a bit of waste of space but wasn't going to disagree too much. It certainly made the meals taste better. They both ate and Roxas noticed that Axel was getting twitchy again, glancing over his shoulder.

"Ready to go?" Roxas finally said and Axel started a bit before looking at him. The redhead smiled but his heart wasn't in it and Roxas could see the tension in his body.

"Yeah, I'm ready." Axel carefully gathered up Aristotle, unhooking his harness and putting him back into the carrier. The cat went with an air of resignation that would normally have been quite amusing. Roxas watched Axel carefully but aside from being very nervous and jumpy he seemed to be doing well. At least he wasn't freaking out about demons. That reaction would be hard to deal with right now. They finally reached a fork in the road and the two of them paused. Roxas hesitated, glancing back and forth. Which way should they go? Either way looked equally likely, both leading through more of the same forest.

"Axel, what do you think?" Roxas asked then turned as the redhead made a strange sound, a cross between a whine and a gasp. "Axel?" Axel was gripping his head, his eyes closed tightly and Roxas dropped the wheelbarrow before walking towards him, alarmed. Roxas touched his arm just as Axel spoke.

"Go east." The words were almost dragged out of him and Axel's voice didn't sound normal at all. It was grating and heavy. Axel opened his eyes and there was a strange, feral glaze to them. "Take the right hand fork and you will find travelers of good nature and kind intentions. Go west and you will find only the swamp. Death awaits you there…" Axel swayed as Roxas caught his arm and his voice stuttered as the glaze left his eyes. "Wh-what… what…" Roxas put an arm around him and Axel leaned against him heavily. The redhead was sweating and suddenly looked exhausted.

"Are you okay?" Roxas asked, really worried. Axel swallowed heavily and nodded as Roxas brushed some of his hair out of his face. "Sit down, I'll get you some water." Roxas was wondering if this was his illness or just heatstroke. Or it could be both. Axel nodded before sitting heavily. Roxas brought him a water bottle and Axel drank quickly, almost choking on the tepid, stale water. Roxas rested a hand on his shoulder comfortingly, watching his lover with worried blue eyes. Axel lifted his head and managed a smile.

"I'm okay." Roxas was relieved to hear that he sounded almost normal. "I – I don't know what that was. It was like a voice in my head grabbed me and started talking." Axel had never felt that before. It had been a complete loss of control. Roxas hesitated before rubbing his back.

"It's nothing to worry about." He said soothingly. "We can go east." It wasn't like he had any better idea which way they should go. Although, if they did meet travelers that might be weird. Axel leaned against him a moment, accepting the comfort Roxas was offering. Then he pulled himself to his feet with a grunt.

"Well, let's go then." He glanced up at the sky for a moment. Axel was getting good at judging the time from the position of the sun in the sky but today it was difficult to gauge. Clouds were beginning to gather. "There's not much daylight left and it looks like it might rain." They hadn't had to deal with rain yet and neither one of them was looking forward to it. Although they could leave bowls out to collect rainwater to put in their water bottles. That might be helpful. Roxas nodded, taking the carrier and the wagon as Axel lifted up the wheelbarrow.

"Right." They trudged onward, not looking back. A brisk breeze whipped up the dust for a moment and brought the faint smell of dying plants and heavy water. The smell of the swamp from the west.

It began to drizzle long before dark. They called a halt early and attempted to turn the tarps into a tent, fastening it between two trees. It wasn't very successful but it kept the worst of the rain off as the drizzle turned into a heavy, steady rain. Aristotle hissed until Roxas pulled him out of his carrier, firmly tying the leash to the tree they were sheltered under. The cat ended up huddled between Roxas and Axel, very unhappy with the rain. Axel gently brushed him as Roxas fought with a can and finally opened some tinned beans.

"Want some beans?" Axel nodded tiredly and ate directly from the can as Roxas opened another for himself. Soon hunger pangs had been assuaged and they settled in for a miserable night. Axel stirred in his sleep, muttering about traveling players and keys. But Roxas was already dozing off. Only Aristotle heard and he reacted by patting Axel on the lips with a soft paw until the redhead was silent. Then he curled up between the two of them and fell into his sleep, filled with mice that were tauntingly out of reach.

"Urghflgh." Roxas grunted as a dollop of water hit him in the face. "Yargh!" Opening his eyes he saw the canopy above them was sagging alarmingly from the weight of water caught in the tarps folds. "Oh hells." Axel and Ari were fast asleep. Standing up Roxas tried to push the tarp so the water would safely –

"ARGH!" Axel sat bolt upright as the tarp slithered away and dumped the entire load of icy water right onto him. "Roxas! What the fuck – OW! Ari you bastard!" The cat had reacted to the drenching by sinking his claws into Axel's legs. The redhead fought with the long haired cat for a moment before managing to pry him off. "God DAMN it!" Axel shivered and sneezed as Roxas winced.

"I'm sorry, I was just trying to get the water off the tarp. I didn't mean to dump it on you." Roxas felt very badly about that. The rain was so cold. It hadn't stopped either, it was a misty drizzle that promised to chill them to the bone. Roxas just hoped the exercise of walking would keep them warm. Axel lurched to his feet, wincing and rubbing his thighs.

"S'alright. I won't kill you yet, although it's tempting." Roxas winced as Axel grumped. "I feel awful." He couldn't count all the aches and pains in his body. Roxas sighed as he began to fold up the tarp. Axel picked up a hissing Aristotle and got him into his carrier with a fight. They'd put it under the wheelbarrow so it was somewhat dry but the cat was still not happy with them.

"Join the club." Roxas felt like he'd twisted his neck into a pretzel in the night. It was a very unpleasant feeling. "C'mon, you'll feel better once we're walking." The shared a tin of apricots and another of pear slices before getting underway again.

Today, walking was pure misery. The exercise did warm them but the cold mist seemed intent on stealing away that heat every time they paused to rest. Ari sneezed in his carrier and Roxas could only agree with the sentiment. This really stank –

"Hey, is that light ahead?" Axel suddenly asked. Roxas blinked and tried to peer through the mist. Yes, there was light there, and it was flickering. A campfire? Axel speeded his pace and Roxas remembered the strange way he'd spoken at the fork in the road. But could they trust that these travelers would mean them well? Could they afford not to take the chance? They were both wet and bound to get sick eventually if this rain kept up. Roxas struggled with himself for a moment before deciding they had to chance it.

It was the only thing to do.


	3. Master Leon's Wandering Caravan

The wet and battered pair stopped at the edge of the camp and looked it over curiously.

It was a bunch of wagons surrounding a very large campfire. Some of them reminded Roxas of the ones the settlers had used going West. But many of them were quite a bit different and some of them were frankly bizarre. Roxas blinked at a wagon that had been painted yellow with purple designs. It was really quite pretty even if the paint was beginning to peel in places.

"Hey Roxy, look at that!" Roxas followed Axel's gesture ands blinked at a wagon that looked like… what? Roxas tried to figure it out. A mechanical ostrich? A house on legs? "That reminds me of the old stories. The witch with a house with legs? Who was that? I think it was Russian."

"I have no idea what you're talking about." Roxas really didn't have the least clue. "Should we introduce ourselves?" He looked longingly at the wagons. It would be nice to be out of the rain. The camp was beginning to stir as he and Axel hesitantly wheeled their things towards the campfire. There were several people around it who noticed them immediately.

"Woah! Who are you?" A young woman with golden hair pointed a ladle at them. Roxas was fascinated by her ears. They were much larger than normal and lightly furred but other than that, she looked perfectly normal. The man beside her was casually reaching for something that looked like a gun and Roxas spoke hastily.

"We're travelers. We're, um, very lost. We were hoping we might be able to travel with you?" He said cautiously. She greeted that with skepticism and Roxas got a better look at her costume. It was a very colorful gown with a tightly tied bodice. Yet, despite the color, it looked very sturdy. A necklace of faux pearls and glass bangles circled her neck and similar pearls were strung through her hair.

"How could you have gotten lost out here? There's no town within miles! And that's an odd looking contraption you have there. What's in the box?" She approached Axel confidently and bent down to peer into the cat carrier. "Wow, that is one cute looking cat. I've never seen a face like that. Where'd you get him?"

"He's a Himalayan. I'm Roxas and this is Axel. Who are – ah!" Roxas almost jumped out of his skin as two dogs suddenly circled them. No, not quite dogs. They had grey, furless skin and odd, plant like fronds growing out of their backs. Their eyes were disconcertingly human and as green as Axel's. An odd little ruff of yellow tubes, segmented with black parts ran down their heads like a mane. The really worrisome part, though, was the size and the teeth. They were easily the size of timber wolves and seemed disconcertingly intelligent. The woman just stood watching them, her hands on her hips as the 'dogs' circled. Axel finally offered one a hand to sniff and it gave him a tentative lick. Then the two animals suddenly lost interest and wandered away.

"Well that's good. You've both gotten the Hupo and Lupo seal of indifference." She said brightly and Roxas noticed the man behind her putting the gun down. Other people were slowly filtering out of the wagons and they mostly seemed young, although there was a smattering of middle ages folk and a few elderly. There were also some beings that didn't look human. Roxas stared at one person with grey skin with black markings and 'hair' that reminded him of the 'dogs' manes. What was that? "I'm Rikku and this is the Master Leon's traveling caravan and wandering show!" Roxas blinked at that and Axel looked intrigued. These were wandering actors? "I'd say you can stay but that's up to Master Leon – oh!" She bobbed a curtsy as man stepped up to the fire. Roxas and Axel both looked at him intently, sensing the deference all the other people were treating him with.

He didn't look very old to Axel and Roxas. Long brown bangs slid messily over his face, but his hair was cut short. The scar across his nose was impressive and the weapon he was carrying was even moreso. To their eyes it looked like a bastardized cross between a gun and a sword. Where the other players were wearing very colorful garb, he was wearing nothing but black. He didn't seem like an actor to Roxas but what did he know about acting, really? Roxas sensed Axel's nervousness as Leon scrutinized them right back and reached out to gently touch the redhead's arm.

"I am Leon and the Master of this caravan." He finally said and his voice was firm and carried a heavy weight of authority. It was the kind of voice that called for instant obedience. "How did you find us?" They were in the middle of nowhere. Roxas hesitated and finally decided to go with the truth.

"We're not entirely sure. We were in our house doing our usual thing and suddenly our house… wasn't in town anymore. It was by the side of the road to the South of here." Roxas gestured vaguely back at the road they'd followed to get here. "We're not sure where we are. Please, could we go with you? We weren't really prepared for this and we had to make do." Leon looked over their wagon and wheelbarrow and seemed to immediately understand the problem. He pursed his lips for a moment and nodded.

"Very well. You can stay with us at least until we reach a town. What's in there? Your belongings?" He asked. Axel answered.

"Food mostly. Also some batteries and other things." The redhead said and Leon frowned. He somehow doubted Axel meant he had massed guns in the wheelbarrow but he couldn't think of any other meaning for 'batteries'. Ignoring that incomprehensible bit he went for the first part.

"Rikku. Take an inventory of what they have and see what we can use." Rikku nodded with a smile. "The rest of you, get your breakfast and get to work." He ordered briskly and all the watchers scattered. Axel grinned at the sudden energy around them as Leon stalked off. He clearly had no patience for stragglers.

"Okay! Let's see what you've got here." Rikku. She quickly pulled the tarp off the wheelbarrow and began poking through the contents. Axel set down the cat carrier to help. "What are all these things?" She hefted a can dubiously, peering at the label. "Chef Boyardee. Who is that? Is he a good cook?" Roxas stared, wondering what planet she was from as Axel burst into laughter. "What?"

"They're cans. You open them with the can opener?" Rikku looked dubious as Roxas fished out the opener. "See, you set it like this and twist the handle." Roxas mimed the way to open them. "There's food inside?" He said tentatively and a light seemed to go in her head.

"Oh! I get it, they're like glass jars but metal huh? Must be very durable. And the food inside is preserved? Nice!" She tossed the can back into the wheel barrow and pulled out a bag. It was looking a bit worse for wear but thanks to the tarp it was mostly dry. "What's this?" She looked at the label. "Sugar? You're putting me on." She opened the bag and sampled a bit of the white stuff inside. "Ohmigosh! It really is!"

"Yes?" Axel said, confused, and Roxas suddenly remembered something from his medieval studies class. Back when sugar was made by hand it was _expensive._ The labor and shipping costs made it prohibitive to anyone but the very rich. Was it like that here, wherever they were? Rikku was holding the bag like it was a rare treasure. "There's a plastic bag of brown sugar and another of icing sugar in there." They'd brought them largely because while it would be disgusting, you could live off nothing but sugar for a while and food was food.

"That's amazing! What other treasures do you have in here?" Rikku began to dig away in earnest and soon uncovered what she considered to be treasures. Roxas soon became sure his hypothesis was correct as she went into rhapsodies over the pepper and salt. Particularly the pepper. "My god, this is more pepper than most spice merchants have!" She said admiringly as she held up the plastic jug of peppercorns. "Do you know what this is worth?"

"Where we come from? I think it was three bucks on sale." Axel said, scratching his head and Rikku looked confused.

"Three deer? That's weird." Axel opened his mouth to correct her then decided against it as Roxas had to hide a giggle. "This is worth at least five gold rondels. Maybe more. Ohmigosh we'll have to pay you for this." She chewed on her lip for a moment then turned. "Isa, go get Leon again would you?"

"Why should I?" A young man responded truculently. Axel and Roxas both examined him, interested. He had very long blueish hair and odd yellow eyes. Rikku smiled at him sweetly.

"Because if you don't I'll open the door to your wagon and let in Hupo and Lupo. You wouldn't want that, would you?" She said with a smile and he growled at her before stalking off. "He's such a little bitch when his moontime is coming."

"Wait, say what?" Roxas knew 'moontime' in the fantasy sense but that wasn't something that should apply to a man. He hoped. Rikku grinned.

"Not like that! Dirty boy. He's a loup-garou and while he has it under control he gets all nasty when he feels the pull. Don't worry, a couple days and he'll be good as new." Leon was heading back, Isa at his side and Roxas bit his lip. The Master of the caravan didn't look amused.

"What is it Rikku? Isa was mumbling something about peppercorns." She grinned and lifted the jug up for him to see and Leon's eyebrows shot up. "What in the world?" She quickly ran through the treasures she'd found, including the small jars of various spices that Axel had shoved into any convenient space. Roxas hadn't objected much at the time because they were light and fit neatly between bulkier items and it turned out they had some cinnamon, cloves, nutmeg, sage, cumin, garlic powder… the list went on and on. From the quick conversation between Leon and Rikku it was all valuable but the pepper and sugar easily trumped everything else. But that had a downside.

"We can't pay full price for these. We'd normally never buy this… it's the food of the rich." Leon tapped the peppercorns. "But we can't really sell it either." He mused as Axel and Roxas exchanged a glance. "That would get us in trouble with the authorities. They tax the spice trade rather strictly and we don't need to get a reputation for smuggling. Hm." Leon regarded the items thoughtfully and Roxas hesitated before he spoke up.

"We don't have a place to be… if you let us stay permanently, could they be our gift to you?" He offered and Leon and Rikku exchanged a glance.

"The caravan always needs labor. Very well, but we'll have to pay you something for them. It wouldn't be fair otherwise." Leon said firmly and pulled out two large gold coins. "Two gold rondels is all we can spare." Rikku nodded. That was only a fraction of the worth of all the spices but more than the caravan would usually spend. Roxas accepted them with a nod, reflecting that if they ever got home the gold would be worth far more than the spices. But where were they? Clearly not the past. These people were far too strange and some of the things they were using looked like high tech. "You'll be paid three coppers a week and get free food and board, unless you turn out to be useful in the acts. Then you might get paid more. Deal?"

"It's a deal." Roxas shook hands with Leon and glanced around. "Ah, where should we stay?" Leon smiled and Rikku laughed.

"You can use the yurt!" She pointed at the strange wagon on legs and Axel swallowed as Roxas stared. "It doesn't even need a driver, it just follows along. The movement is a bit jolting but you'll get used to it in no time."

"What happened to the person who was using it before us?" Roxas asked warily and Rikku suddenly sobered.

"She died in an attack. You know how we had Hupo and Lupo smell you? Things often aren't what they seem on the borderlands. Here, have some breakfast." Rikku found them a couple wooden bowls and began ladling out some porridge. Axel and Roxas both ate the first hot food they'd had in days with good cheer. Soon they were helping Rikku pack all of their items into a supply wagon.

This place was very strange but they were both too tired to question it just yet.

* * *

"Oh god, I feel so much better." Axel said feelingly and Roxas smiled.

The yurt had turned out to be a wonderful place to be. It was very jolting on the move but it was well furnished inside and all the furniture was bolted to the floor and walls. Including a bed with a decent mattress. It didn't have springs the way they were used to but it had been filled with something giving. Wool maybe? Whatever it was, after all the time they'd spent under bushes it was absolute heaven. Aristotle was quickly getting used to his new home and they'd even gotten a litter box set up for him.

"Me too. I just wish I knew where we are." The terms the other travelers threw around were completely foreign to them. Where was Akkady? That was where they were going and it was a large town but Roxas had never heard of it. "Hey, is the caravan stopping?" The yurt had just jolted to a halt. Axel poked his head out the door.

"Looks like. Oh, they're cooking! Come on, I'm hungry." Axel shimmied down the ladder quickly and Roxas followed. He was relieved to see that Axel seemed to be having a good day. He hadn't complained about silence or voices at all so far.

"You too! Excellent." Rikku grinned widely as she pointed a knife at a bunch of potatoes. The grey skinned person they'd noticed earlier was sitting there peeling them with a single minded concentration. "Go help Tam'li with those, would you? Thanks!" Axel started over with a smile and Roxas paused for a moment to examine Tam'li.

He tentatively decided the alien being was female, but it was far from certain. Her features were far too delicate for a man, all fine bones, full lips and very large green eyes. She reminded him a bit of the 'dogs'… her skin was the same shade and the 'hair' was definitely related. Now that he was closer Roxas could see she had similar fronds as well, growing out of her back. They looked like the petals of a large flower. She looked like a rather bizarre cross between a woman and a flower, in some ways. But she was very well put together and clearly a different species. Roxas sat down beside her and picked up a knife, taking a potato to peel. She smiled at them both for a moment as she chopped up a potato and put the pieces in a pot.

"Hello." She said a touch shyly. "I'm Tam'li. You're Axel? Or are you Roxas?" Roxas smiled as Axel laughed. Clearly their names had gotten around but not which of them was which.

"I'm Roxas and that's Axel. Um, I don't mean to be rude, but I've never seen anyone like you before. What are you?" He asked bluntly and Tam'li's smile widened into a grin.

"Oh, it's not rude at all. Pointing and whispering is much worse! I'm a T'assa. My people mostly live in warmer, more humid lands. We can live in places like this but it's not ideal for us. I think Akkady has a small community of my people. Personally, I came from a tribe in the deep rainforest of Tal'lastu. That means Breath of the Goddess." Tam'li translated the term easily for them.

"Have you been with this caravan long?" Axel asked conversationally as he worked at his potato. Tam nodded.

"For, mmm, eighty years? I was joined up when it was Mistress Reena's caravan. It passed on to Master Lund when she died, then Master Leon. I'm a hundred and thirty years old." She said proudly and Roxas blinked.

"Wow! Your people live longer than humans?" Roxas asked, reflecting on how crazy all of this was. They were sitting in a caravan where some wagons walked, others were pulled by horses and peeling potatoes with a woman from another species. If this was a hallucination they were probably already doped up in the hospital. Tam'li was oblivious to his thoughts and responded with a tinkling laugh.

"No, actually. We're shorter lived than humans. Very few T'assa live past seventy, although our reflexes stay good well into our forties. You can find forty year old T'assa mercenaries, and you just don't see that with humans." She hummed as she sliced up another potato, waiting for the obvious question. Axel didn't disappoint.

"How are you still alive then?" He asked, a touch confused. Tam'li smiled and gestured with her knife.

"Well, that's an interesting story. You want to hear?" Roxas and Axel both assented. It wasn't like they had much else to do while they peeled potatoes. "My people in the deep rainforest have a ritual. When we come of age we stand before the statue of the Goddess and if there's a real seer in the clan, we kneel before them and give homage to the madness of the gods." Roxas opened his mouth to ask a question but Tam'li was already going on. "At that time we make a pledge for our adulthood. Most of the pledges are the standard stuff. I will be the greatest hunter, I will have three or more children, I will become a great herb woman, blahblahblah."

"I thought all of that was boring and I had always wanted to wander. My family didn't want to let me go but if I made it an oath to the Goddess they would have to let me go." She said cheerfully as she dumped another potato into the pail. Roxas marveled at her speed. Axel had just barely finished his first and Roxas was still working at his. "So I stood in front of the statue and seer and made my oath. 'Goddess, I pledge to see all the world before I die!' Now, mostly the seer doesn't say anything, probably because the Gods find the whole business terribly boring. But when I made my oath she spoke. 'You will see all the world, though it might take you a thousand years.' It was about that time I realized I might have made a mistake." Tam'li sighed and shook her head. "But how was I to know the world was so big?" To a tribeswoman in the interior of the rainforest, the world had looked small indeed.

"Oh! Hah. So you're going to live until you see all the world?" Axel asked, amused by the idea and she nodded.

"Apparently. I haven't aged a day since then and I can't stop moving. Always have to go! This caravan is always showing me new places, it's wonderful. But there's so much of the world left to go! It really is going to take me a thousand years I think." She brooded for a moment then shrugged. "But that's what happens when you make stupid oaths in front of the Goddess. It could have been worse."

"I'll say! Most people would kill to live a thousand years." Although Roxas supposed it might sort of suck if you had to keep traveling the whole time. Not to mention that you'd outlive most of your companions.

"Well, that supposes nothing kills me along the way." Tam'li said judiciously. "Hey! Hupo, stop that!" The 'dog' had delicately nabbed a whole potato and was crunching it with gusto. "You're supposed to be a carnivore. That stuff is not good for you!" Grumbling she fished a bit of hard tack out of her belt pouch and fed the salty, chewy meat to the monster dog. That reminded Axel of something he'd been meaning to ask.

"What is that thing, anyway? It looks a bit like you." Now that he saw the two of them together it was clear they were related somehow. Although maybe in just the same way humans were related to real dogs… both creatures from the same planet and general background. Tam'li sighed as she patted Hupo's head.

"He and Lupo are miniature great dogs." Roxas and Axel exchanged a wide-eyed glance. Miniature? "They're really great for scenting out magic and dark energy. They've caught all kinds of things before they could get close enough to endanger the camp. Anyone who wants to join us has to get sniffed over before we allow it."

"Ah, I see." Magic? This hallucination was really strange. Although it felt completely real and that was alarming in a completely different way. Had magic brought them here? But the yurt they were using looked like technology. Roxas made a note to get Axel to look it over. He was the more mechanically minded of the pair. "How long will it be before we get to Akkady?" Roxas was very curious to see a town. It might give them a better idea of what this place was like. Tam'li grabbed the pan of potatoes and dumped them in the stewing pot. The stew was already bubbling and beginning to smell good. Rikku was stirring it and had already liberally spiced it with salt and pepper.

"Two days, it should be." Rikku answered as Tam'li fed a bit more hard tack to Hupo. The dog had a way of rounding his eyes and lowering his ears that made him look both adorable and pathetically hungry. "Tam, stop, I already fed him earlier. He's just being a sneak." Roxas smiled then blinked as he felt warm arms around him. Axel rested his chin on Roxas shoulder as the blonde snuggled up.

"Just like dogs, huh?" Axel murmured in his ear and Roxas laughed softly. "I think I'm going to like this place Roxy." Then, much lower. "As long as I don't start seeing things again." Roxas gripped Axel's wrists tightly and couldn't help but feel a bit of fear. If Axel started reverting would the caravan kick them out? He wouldn't really blame them if they did. Dealing with Axel when he was having a full blown hallucination wasn't fun at all.

"You're going to be fine." Roxas said firmly and ignored the doubt in Axel's eyes. "Don't worry about it."

There was really nothing they could do but go on.


	4. The Past According to Tam'li

_Bang! Bang bang bang!_

"Can't you keep that down?" Isa asked waspishly and Axel glared at the other man. Roxas sighed to himself. Axel was having more problems with silence and the feeling that he was being watched and it was beginning to grate on his nerves. How were they supposed to put up signs quietly anyway?

_**WHAM!**_ Roxas winced as Axel wound up and gave the sign an almighty wack. Isa snarled and bolted out of his wagon, getting right into Axel's face. The redhead lifted the mallet threateningly and Roxas tensed. Were they going to –

"Isa! Get away from him!" Rikku ordered. The two men slowly backed away from each other, both glaring and Isa finally vented a frustrated snarl before walking away. Rikku watched him for a moment before frowning at Axel. "Please don't antagonize him. Tonight is the full moon." Isa's nerves were completely on edge. Axel snarled and Roxas touched his arm as Rikku blinked. He sounded a lot like Isa.

"I don't care! I'm putting up signs. I can't fucking keep it down. And something is watching me!" Axel was scratching his left arm and Roxas winced before speaking firmly in his ear.

"Axel." The redhead flinched at the clear warning in his voice. So far the traveling circus had been welcoming but what would they do if they found out the truth? They might be thrown out and Roxas hadn't a clue what they would do.

"Watching?" Rikku sounded confused and frowned at them both but Axel avoided her eyes. She finally vented a sigh. "Go… go help Tam'li. I'm sure she can find something for you to do." Roxas nodded and quickly tugged Axel away. Over the trip they'd both learned a bit about the social structure of the caravan. Leon was technically in charge but Rikku had a great deal of influence. Tam'li was the go to it person. If you ever had a problem with something she likely had the answer and she always knew what needed doing. Sure enough, she had a task for them.

"I heard you had a bit of an argument with Isa." She said cheerfully and Roxas didn't ask how she'd heard already. Tam was more plugged into the rumor mill than anyone he'd met in his life. "If you want to get out of the camp for a while you could take a cart and go get some stuff from the town." They'd finally reached Akkady and Roxas was underwhelmed. It had turned out to be a small town in the middle of nowhere and owed its existence to the woods and the river running through it. Apparently there was quite a lumber industry. "We need a new axel for that one cart." Roxas nodded but frowned. A cart had broken and right now it was tied another cart, empty. They'd pulled it along to town. But…

"Will we have to bargain? We're not that good at that." Neither he and Axel knew how to bargain at all, which had amused the other travelers. Tam'li had kindly explained that they shouldn't pay the asking price after Axel bought a lantern off another player for a ridiculous sum. Tam shook her head with a smile.

"Not for ironwood. A good axel costs what it costs, no bargaining allowed. Big ticket items are like that. But make sure you go to this place." She scribbled down something on a piece of paper and handed it to him. It was the name of a business and basic directions. "It's over the river. Probably take you a couple hours but by then Isa will have cooled down a bit. What do you say?"

"Sounds great. Which cart should we take?" Soon they were both installed on a simple cart with a very old horse who probably couldn't muster a good bolt if his tail was on fire. He ambled slowly through the town gates and Roxas mentally added another hour onto their time estimate. But that was fine. His knowledge of how to handle horses consisted of a two hour tutorial delivered by Tam, punctuated with a great deal of licking from Lupo.

"At least we're going to be gone a while." Axel clearly had reached the same conclusion about the speed of their horse. He glanced around alertly, taking in the town and Roxas joined him in the sightseeing. The town was mostly built out of wood and looked rather old and worn. Roxas guessed that the place wasn't prospering. The people weren't too poor though and they were flocking to the traveling circus outside the gates. "I think we turn left up here." Axel said after consulting Tam's paper.

"Right." Roxas said and pulled the reins. Axel grinned.

"No, left!" Rolling his eyes at the lame joke Roxas managed to get the cart going in the right direction. Someone rode by on a fast horse and cursed them but the two ignored him. They were slow and they knew it. Axel sat up straight as they approached the bridge, eyes widening. "Roxy, look at that!"

"Huh?" Roxas glanced ahead and blinked. "Eh?" The bridge was a beautiful suspension bridge. Roxas had never seen anything as graceful in his life. Pure white cables that looked like some kind of plastic were holding it in place and they looked utterly pristine. The road itself glittered almost painfully in the daylight, except where the horses had pooped on it. The metal was roughed and the horses had no troubles keeping their balance as they plodded across it. "How did they make something like that?" It didn't look like magic to Roxas. It was more like the yurt, something purely technological. Axel frowned.

"I dunno Roxy. It looks pretty neat." Axel considered it a moment then shrugged. "Add one more to the list of weird things." Roxas laughed at that. They'd already found plenty of things that were just plain weird. Tam'li headed the list but she was far from the only oddity in the camp. They finally reached the various sawmills and other operations. Axel checked the name on his sheet with the name on the board over the door.

"I think this is it." The building seemed very well kept and as they walked inside, they were assaulted by the sound of people working. Plenty of carts and other vehicles, carriages and the like were in the process of being built. Axel and Roxas both looked around in confusion, wondering where to go.

"Can I help you?" Grateful at the direction they turned to a short but well-built man wearing glasses and carrying a clipboard.

"Yes, we're looking for an ironwood axel. Here's the measurements." Roxas surrendered the paper and the man scrutinized it carefully before nodding.

"Typical size. Not a problem. You'll be handling the installation yourselves, I take it?" Tam hadn't mentioned that but Roxas nodded. He was sure the caravan could handle it and Tam'li would have mentioned if they wanted anything extra. "Fine, fine. I assume you have a cart to carry this? It's going to be two gold rondels and three silver." Roxas passed over the bag Tam'li had given them. It had three gold rondels in it and the man checked them before making change.

"Yes, it's parked outside." Roxas said and the man nodded briskly before going over to a rack of wood. Soon he was barking commands and two men were hauling a large piece out. Axel suddenly rubbed his head and Roxas looked at him worriedly. "Axel?"

"I… have a headache." The redhead suddenly stiffened and whined before gripping Roxas' arm sharply. Roxas was alarmed but the strange look in his eyes. It was similar to when he'd made his prophesy on the road, but Axel seemed a bit more in control of himself. "The sawmill. They need to stop. The saw is going to break!" Axel's voice sounded strained and Roxas grabbed him as he started to move.

"No!" He knew this wasn't the way to handle someone having a delusional attack but he had to keep Axel from making his illness obvious. "Axel, stop, you can't –" There was suddenly a sound like nothing Roxas had ever heard before. It was something like a twang and something like steel clashing against steel. Then there was a scream and the men loading the axel looked up for a moment, surprised, before the man with the clipboard told them to get on with it. But he was looking at the sawmill in concern.

"Too late." Axel whispered and Roxas blinked, hesitating before he gently patted his back.

"They wouldn't have listened anyway." Roxas consoled him as the redhead looked away from the mill. Roxas swallowed as he saw them carrying out a body. What happened when a blade broke at a sawmill? Nothing good apparently. There was a lot of blood.

"I suppose not." Axel sounded exhausted again. "I hate the way that feels. But it wasn't as bad this time." The voice had only spoken to him, not seized control like the first time. But the voice was so strange. It wasn't like the voices he'd heard in his head before. Particularly since it seemed to be right about things. Roxas frowned and shook his head.

"It's weird how you seem to know what's going to happen…" That really worried him. The people here talked about magic all the time like it really existed and some of the tricks they did in the caravan were not sleigh of hand. Could Axel have some kind of talent? What did it mean? The redhead vented a sigh.

"I just wish it would stop watching me…" Axel seemed a bit more relaxed now though. Roxas had been noticing a pattern with that. The watching feeling seemed to build up until Axel vented it in some way and then he was good for a while. That was completely different from how he'd behaved before they'd ended up here. When he was off his med, he had good days and bad days but they weren't at all predictable.

"It's better than demons." Roxas said soothingly as they got up onto the cart. Axel managed a crooked smile.

"True." He didn't like being watched but it wasn't terrifying like the red eyes and evil whispers he'd heard before. Still. "I want to go home Roxy. That stuff I was on was really working. I'd had such hopes…" Roxas swallowed. He could hear the longing in Axel's voice, the wish for a normal life. That had been his dream too.

"It's okay Axel. We'll make a good home here." With no idea of how they'd gotten here or how they could get back it was all they could do. "Although we should keep our ears open, see if there have been any other mysterious appearances or disappearances. I'd love to get home." Roxas said and Axel nodded. "I miss my parents." They hadn't been perfect but he missed them all the same. Axel surprised him with another smile.

"I miss them too." Roxas gave him a startled look but Axel seemed to mean it. "Hey, they weren't the best but they gave us money for new shoes. My feet thanked them very much." Roxas laughed at that. It was true, his parents had been willing to lend a hand financially even if they couldn't directly cope with Axel's illness.

They slowly made their way back to the camp and paused to get some drinks from a street vendor. The little waxed paper cups they were given held the beer fairly well but they still drank it quickly and carefully saved the papers for fire starters. Tam would appreciate it. Eventually they reached the camp and Axel's stomach was starting to rumble. Roxas' was quieter but still trying to knaw its way out of his backbone.

"Hey Tam! What's for supper?" Axel asked gaily as he swung off the cart. Tam'li looked up from the food she was preparing with a grin. A small boy scampered over to unhitch the horse and take her to the corral they'd set up for all the horses. Roxas was glad of that, she probably needed water and food as much as they did.

"Chicken and barley broth with fresh bread! You got the axel?" She left the stirring up to her assistant, a young girl with thick black hair and a very revealing dress. Roxas nodded and gave her the change. "Only two and three? Excellent! Here, red, help me carry this." Roxas watched as the two of them hauled the heavy ironwood. It was a two person job but they were both clearly straining by the time they reached the wagon. "And HEAVE!" The tossed it onto the bed of the broken wagon and Tam'li wiped a bit of sweat off her face. "Okay. Isa and Regin will fix that up tomorrow. C'mon, let's get you two something to eat, you look famished." Axel grinned as she rested a hand lightly on his shoulder for a moment. Tam was a rather touchy sort of person but there was nothing sexual about it.

"Please! I'm about ready to eat that axel." Roxas chimed in. "Or this Axel." Axel made a face at him then grinned again.

"You can eat me all night long – ohh, this bread looks good." Axel said appreciatively as Tam broke off a few pieces for them. It was heavy dark bread but he liked that and the outside was very crusty. Tam put a good dollop of butter on both their pieces.

"It's only dark but it's good. I love it when we hit a town or village, the food is so much better." Tam commented as they both took a seat and began to eat. "After you're done, can you go grab a shovel and clean out the horse area?" Axel groaned and she grinned. "Sorry carrot-top, it has to be done."

"Hey, red I'll take but no carrot jokes. Or I'll start joking about hibiscus flowers." Axel said a touch grouchily as he eyed her fronds. Tam'li laughed uproariously.

"That's better than you know! There were hibiscus flowers everywhere around my home village. So are you going to come see the show tonight?" One of the actors stopped by and Tam ladled out some food for him. Roxas swallowed a bit of his bread before speaking.

"I think so. What's this show about though?" He was a bit fuzzy on the details and Tam grinned.

"It's the Turning of the Screw! It's a romantic comedy with a beautiful maiden, a dastardly noble and a daring mechanic!" Axel and Roxas listened, enthralled, as Tam'li began explaining the twists and turns of the plot. Although the stuff about a mechanic brought up some interesting questions.

"You know, the technology here really puzzles me." Roxas said carefully. He didn't like to bring up the story of how they'd gotten here, it made them look far too strange. But he really wanted to know. "There are things like the yurt and the bridge, but I don't see much in general use." That was strange. Tam made a face and shrugged.

"Most tech doesn't work very well. Magic interferes with it so mechanics also have to be wizards and that's a really hard skillset to master. There are stories that it didn't used to be like that and most of the mechanisms you'll see come from the early times. The yurt is ancient and so is that bridge. It was here long before the town existed." Tam'li tossed Lupo a bone and the miniature great dog crunched it with gusto. "We'll be passing through a ruin on our way to Raven's Pass. It's pretty well looted but you'll be able to see the skeletons of the towers." Roxas blinked at that. Skeletons?

"What happened?" Axel asked, a little shocked and Tam shrugged again.

"No one remembers. Just that it was bad and a lot of people died. The stories are a bit crazy… they say that none of us came from this world originally, we all came here from lots of different places and then the bad thing happened and our ancestors were stranded. I think there's something in it… I mean, look at me and look at you. Do we look like we have any ancestors in common? Really? And if either of us are related to a Jorta I'll eat my ladle." Roxas and Axel both wondered what a Jorta was but decided not to ask. It was probably something weird. "Or a Twill." They did know what that was. They were tiny little humanoids covered in hair and had very squeaky voices. The caravan had a few of them and the town had a lot more. "But still, the stories are so full of shit the storytellers should have brown eyes. The stars are the souls of the departed, not balls of incandescent gas!" Tam'li said firmly and Axel opened his mouth before Roxas nudged him in the side.

"Don't. Religious arguments are the worst." He murmured into the redhead's ear before raising his voice. "That's really interesting. I can't wait to see that ruin. How long are we staying here?" He liked the town too and wanted to explore more of it.

"Oh, a week. That will give everyone in town a chance to see us but we'll be able to get out before the guards pin anything onto us." Tam'li grinned wickedly. "A few of us are a bit shady! But we'll be gone before they catch on." Roxas shook his head with a smile, not particularly surprised. He had no difficulty imagining Tam picking pockets and he knew Rikku was a bit of a card sharper.

They went to see the play that evening and it was truly excellent. The magical special effects made everything much better than they'd expected although there was one bad moment when a 'demon' came onstage. Axel froze and stared at the glowing red eyes before Roxas spoke in his ear.

"It's fine, I see it too." Axel stared at him then tried to relax. "It's just part of the play." That was quickly proven as the mechanic managed to trip the demon, grabbed the girl and ran. The audience laughed as the demon took off in hot pursuit and the dastardly noble followed. Axel relaxed completely then and went back to enjoying the show. Finally it was over and they filtered out with the rest of the crowd before going back to their yurt.

It had been a very long day.


	5. Potential Stings

"Mmm." Roxas blissfully munched his sweet honey cake as Axel tried to read a book. It wasn't very easy by the flickering light of the lantern and the script of the book was giving him problems. It was the same language but the letters were slightly different from the ones he knew. "Mmm." He shot Roxas a slightly annoyed look as the blonde savored every bite. In a land where sweets were hideously expensive, the occasional taste of sugar was something to be enjoyed. Roxas was definitely enjoying. He completely missed Axel's frown turning into something different, more intent, and the redhead carefully placed a bookmark to mark his place before setting down his book. Axel paused for a moment to watch before suddenly moving. "HEY!" Roxas yelped in shock as the redhead grabbed his honey cake and tossed it out the window. "What did you do that for?!?" Axel blinked as his lover glared at him furiously.

"What did I do?" He said blankly then flushed as he came back to reality. "Oh god! I'm so sorry Roxy. I didn't mean to, it was the voice…" That sounded lame even to Axel.

"I'm going to strangle that voice in your head!" Roxas snarled before settling into a sullen silence. Axel fidgeted, almost wringing his hands in nervousness before realizing what he was doing and tugging on his hair instead. Roxas had never gotten this upset about his voices before. But then, they'd never damaged his food before. Roxas looked up and realized he was really worrying the redhead. "…Sorry." He said grudgingly before looking away. He'd really been enjoying that honey cake. It had been dipped in the icing sugar they'd brought and he wouldn't be seeing that again in a hurry. Roxas looked up as Axel sat down on the bed beside him.

"I'm sorry Roxas, I really am." The redhead murmured, tentatively reaching over to rub his back. Roxas was stiff for a moment then sighed and relaxed, letting Axel touch him.

"I know." Roxas said before gripping Axel's collar and pulling him down. The redhead let out a shocked sound before Roxas pressed their lips together in a passionate kiss. "Well, you cost me something sweet. You better replace it." Roxas said with a kittenish growl as he worked open Axel's collar and began exploring warm, creamy skin. Axel settled into bed beside him with a breathless laugh.

"Gladly." The two of them were quite oblivious to the rest of the world as they disrobed each other and set to making up. So they missed Aristotle padding to the front of the wagon and hissing. Even if they had seen they wouldn't have understood.

Outside the wagon a creature paused, sniffing the air. It looked like a cross between a rat and a man and had all the worst features of both. Shredded clothing did very little to hide a body that was hideously deformed and covered in night muck. A vicious grin twisted the rat-like snout as it looked at the wagon. Roxas had forgotten to reel in the rope ladder they used to get up and down into the walking wagon. It would be child's play to climb up and the rat-man could hear sounds that spelled distraction to its feral mind. It was about to swarm up the rope when it paused. Something smelled good. Very, very good.

Putting off the succulent feast waiting in the wagon, the rat creature searched for the source of that aroma. It promised something even sweeter, something that could not be passed up. Squeaking in triumph the rat found the remains of the honey cake and grabbed them just as silent paws impacted it in the back. Squeaking in sheer panic it looked up into very large, white teeth.

"What's… that sound…?" Roxas muttered as Axel deep throated him. It was so hard to think but something was making a horrible _crunching_ noise. It was wet and tearing too, like someone pulling apart damp silk.

"Mfph." Was the only sound Axel made but Roxas caught his meaning from the way he was stroking the blonde's thighs and the wonderful things the redhead was doing with his tongue. Roxas' head fell back as he groaned, his erection throbbing at the attention.

"Yeah… who cares…" He managed to say as Axel bobbed his head.

"Mrrrlfph." Roxas completely lost any interest in the sounds outside the wagon at that point. Axel was far too enthralling. Any irritation about the honey cake vanished too, replaced with pure pleasure as Axel brought him to the edge and then took him over in an ecstatic moment. Roxas panted, relaxing into the cushions as Axel moved up to kiss him. The blonde returned the kiss with interest, tasting himself on the redhead's lips. "I love you Roxy." Axel whispered in his ear and Roxas shivered at the emotion in his voice.

"I love you too Axel." Roxas whispered back and Axel's smile was beautiful to see. Then his hot lover slid a hand down, slickened digits finding his puckered entrance and carefully beginning the process of loosening him. Roxas sighed and relaxed, giving himself over to Axel's tender attentions.

He would trade a honey cake for this any day of the week.

* * *

"What is wrong with Lupo?" Tam'li said, completely vexed. Roxas looked over from his spot at the fire. He was very tired but that was fine. The best thing about having the walking wagon was that they didn't need to stay awake during the day, it just followed the caravan all by itself. He'd wondered why it didn't have people fighting over it but apparently the yurt had a reputation as a jinx. Not many of the people who had used it had survived for long. Roxas and Axel weren't particularly worried though. Bizarre happenings or not, they didn't really believe in that sort of thing.

"What's wrong with him?" To Roxas' inexperienced eyes the miniature great dog looked very smug. He was curled up by the fire and sleeping.

"He's not eating breakfast! These things always eat unless they're sick or stuffed and we never feed them enough to get stuffed. Lupo! Did you find something to eat?" Tam'li demanded, hands on her hips. The dog just yawned at her. "Hey!" She suddenly pounced the dog. He didn't resist much as she opened his jaws and grabbed something, just licked her hand. "You did! You ate something with cloth on it?" Tam'li sniffed the cloth fragment and made a face. "Ewww, poo. I think I don't want to know." She tossed away the filthy piece of cloth and Roxas shuddered.

"They eat shit? Gross." Axel said as he staggered over to the fire. "What's for breakfast?" Tam'li leered cheerfully at him before pouring out some porridge.

"For you? Probably man cock." Axel blushed as Roxas almost swallowed his spoon. "Everyone heard you last night you know. Here, it's porridge." Axel took the bowl with muttered thanks, still blushing. "Miniature great dogs will most definitely eat shit. Especially from other creatures with different digestive types. They can reprocess it and get good stuff out of it, or so my mother said." Tam'li began eating her own porridge as Axel winced.

"I really didn't want to know, but thanks for sharing." Tam'li grinned and they all ate in silence for a while before Axel changed the subject. "So how did we do in Akkady?" They had stayed for a week but it was over now. They were on their way through the Borderlands going up to Ozyorsk. Tam'li swallowed a mouthful of porridge.

"We did good. Made more than enough to cover all of our expenses, definitely worth the trip. Ozyorsk should be even better provided there hasn't been any kind of disaster. You never know sometimes." Tam'li shrugged and Roxas frowned. Disasters?

There had been plenty of hints in the caravan that things were not entirely peaceful. Roxas thought hard about it. The first hint was all the weapons, well kept and clearly in use. Mostly swords and spears, but there was also a smattering of rifles. He'd taken a look at them and they were breech-loading with percussion caps. They seemed a bit high tech for this place but he'd also noticed they had very sophisticated pumps and other machinery. The seemed to be lacking engines and electricity but it didn't make much sense to Roxas. He was sure steam engines had existed at the same time as rifles so why didn't they have them? Or did they, and he just hadn't seen them? Roxas realized he'd gotten off the original thought and went back to it. Dangers. What was dangerous enough in this land that the caravan had so many weapons and people who knew how to use them?

"Tam? What sort of disasters do you mean?" Roxas finally asked and Tam'li frowned, reaching up to tap her hair with a clicking sound.

"Oh, anything. You never know what you'll find until you find it." That wasn't much of an answer and Tam shrugged as Roxas stared at her. "One time we encountered a bunch of draugs when we were traveling through the swamp to the west. Wild zombies." She elaborated as Axel made an enquiring sound.

"Wild… you're kidding me! Zombies?" Roxas said in disbelief but suddenly felt a surge of uneasiness. The swamp to the west. Axel had said that death waited for them there, was this why? Tam'li frowned and set down her spoon.

"Roxas, Axel, I'm getting the feeling you guys came from a peaceful place." That was true enough. Roxas nodded cautiously. "Probably some small village along the New Rhine." That wasn't true at all but Roxas kept his lips sealed. All he and Axel had told everyone about their home was that they'd been on a river which was true enough. "Things are stable there. This is the borderlands. It's called that because all the borders are blurry. The border between life and death, mundane and magic. We have trolls, hobgoblins, change children and shit that is so weird it doesn't have a name." Tam'li paused with a frown. "Basically, if someone tells you weird shit is going down you should believe them. No one's going to kid about it unless they're a complete asshole. Got it?"

"Uh, okay. Why do people live up here?" Axel asked. "If it's so bad?" Tam smiled and lifted her hands in a 'who knows?' gesture. "No, seriously."

"Well, I would never choose to raise a babe here myself." Tam said thoughtfully. "But I suppose it's because they always have. The people here are used to the dangers and the land is rich. Almost everyone can make a good living up here if they work at it." Roxas thought he could understand that. The possibility of starving in a safer place, or the possibility of having your junk ripped off by a zombie where you were making a very good wage? Decisions, decisions. "You know, you should get some training with weapons. Maybe Isa could teach you." Axel winced at the thought. Things had become better after the full moon was over but Isa still did not like him. "Oh hey! Can either of you act? We're thinking of putting on a Midsummer Night's Dream and there's going to be auditions soon."

"Really?" Axel said, interested. "I did that in high school. Sure, I'd be interested. Do you have any copies of the script?" Something occurred to Roxas and he was thinking as Axel took two copies of the script from Tam'li. It would give them something to read on the trip but that wasn't what was on his mind.

"Axel?" Roxas said when they were back in their yurt. "There's something really weird about this." He tapped the cover of the book. It clearly said William Shakespear on it. Axel looked up with a blink. "A lot of the culture here seems odd but this is exactly the way it should be." He'd only skimmed the script but it looked just like a Midsummer Night's Dream.

A lot of things were like that. Roxas had noticed that the names of cities and places seemed oddly varied. A few had the sounds he'd come to associate with the T'assa or Twills, but most of the human sounding ones were distinctly Slavic. The culture seemed to vaguely echo that although the language in use was English. So far they hadn't encountered any other language, even among the non-humans although they had run into some hard to understand accents.

"I'm not sure what you – oh! You mean, this isn't Earth, why is this here?" Axel said, tilting his head to one side and Roxas nodded. "Maybe we're in the future Roxy." Roxas blinked at that suggestion.

"Wait. You mean maybe people from Earth colonized this place?" That was a bizarre thought. "But what happened?" Something must have happened. The ruins, the ancient technology and the way nothing seemed to work anymore… Axel shrugged.

"Got me. It's just an idea. But maybe there's no real answer to your question. Maybe the truth is too weird for us to even guess." Axel wasn't particularly concerned about it. They needed more information to even hazard a guess. Roxas sighed and opened the book. "The answers will come." Roxas looked up sharply. Axel's voice had that odd note again. But the redhead didn't seem to have noticed and was looking at his book.

"Hmm." Roxas sighed to himself and applied himself to the script. It would be nice if they could make more money. Food was included but three coppers did not go far at all and they would be needing more clothing and shoes soon. The caravan didn't cover things like that. Roxas vaguely wondered if weapons would be provided or if they'd have to buy their own there too.

Later that day, they both got their first taste of real combat. To say it didn't go well would have been an understatement.

"Okay." Isa said, his voice a low growl as he hefted a staff. "I'm told the two of you want to learn to fight." Roxas wondered how their brief inquiry had turned into that but decided it was true enough. Axel was looking like he'd rather be anywhere else. "Get on the padding. We need you fit enough to work when this is over." Roxas swallowed, grabbing the padded leather armor. Axel helped him buckle it on and then he helped the redhead in turn. Really, how bad could it be –

"Augh!" Roxas found himself rapped smartly across the chest. That _stung!_ Isa grinned, showing sharp fangs.

"Try to stop me." Isa ran them easily around the little clearing and Roxas growled to himself as he heard some people from the caravan laughing. Axel tried to attack the blue haired young man and ended up getting popped in the head. Roxas yelped as his lover went down like a sack of wheat.

"You bas – ow!" Roxas got his own pop and hit the ground with a groan. When his eyes cleared he saw Isa prodding Axel with the tip of his staff as the redhead groaned.

"Is this really all you have? Come on, I know you're stronger than this. I've seen you hauling around wood and shoveling dung. If you can handle that you can handle this." Isa seemed oblivious to Roxas climbing to his feet. Eyes narrowing, the blonde picked up a large rock.

"_STOP THIS!"_ He screamed as he clocked Isa over the head with it. The blue haired man yelped in pain and went down to one knee but didn't go down completely. So Roxas hit him again. The loup garou finally went down and Roxas stood over his body, panting. There was a surprised silence from the watchers. Axel blinked as Roxas helped him up.

"Wow. Did you really…?" If he hadn't seen that he wouldn't have believed it. Roxas nodded.

"It was when I saw him hurting you. Something in me just snapped." He confessed. Axel smiled warmly and put an arm around him. Roxas lowered his head for a kiss –

"_**Yes!**_" Roxas and Axel both looked horrifed as Isa grabbed Roxas' shoulder and swung around the blonde. But the blue haired man was… grinning? "The redhead is nothing but you! You're treacherous! _**Very good!**_ You have potential, now it's time for me to bring it out!" Roxas stuttered then yelped in pain as Isa swept his feet out from under him.

"What? No! I – no!" Axel watched, bemused and still in pain as Isa began running Roxas around the clearing mercilessly.

"I'm glad I don't have potential." Axel mused. Then he sighed. "But I better go help." He might be worthless but he had to at least try.

Roxas did it for him.


	6. The Dead City

"Tam'li?" Roxas said as he helped her fill up one of the great water jugs the company kept filled when they travelled from town to town. They were camped by a lake and the alien woman was dipping something in the water she claimed would cleanse it of any diseases. "I've been meaning to ask. Who are those strangers?" He jerked his head towards the last few carts of the caravan then glanced over as Axel laughed and Isa swore. He smiled as he saw the two of them had lost their grip on a barrel and it had ended up in the lake. Axel waded in after it.

"Strangers?" Tam'li said, distracted. She pulled out the little piece of white bone and Roxas swallowed as he saw it had turned completely black. "There's something in this water. This is used up. Here…" She pulled out another charm and dunked it. Roxas blinked and shook his head before speaking again.

"You know, the last five carts." He was sure those carts were not part of the caravan. The horses and carts were unfamiliar and so were the men themselves. They were also wearing uniforms. Simple uniforms of dark blue and silver, but nothing like the people in the caravan wore. They were also keeping to themselves and seemed to regard the players with quiet disdain. Tam'li blinked.

"Oh them! The Captain of the Guard asked us to take them along since we're going through the ruins near Raven's Pass. You know, the dead city. They've got supplies for the prison detail there." Roxas frowned, feeling like he was missing several points as Tam'li pulled out her new charm. It was white. "Ah, perfect, this is clean."

"Prison detail?" He asked as she pounded the lid on the barrel, then gripped her end of it. Roxas took the other end and between the two of them it was a heavy but manageable burden.

"Yessss." Tam'li grunted as they heaved the barrel into the water cart then rubbed her face. "So heavy, good thing we have those draft horses… yes. The dead city is full of interesting things but it's also full of ghasts, draugs and other entertaining ways to die. So the Duke decided to make the best of a bad thing and he sends prisoners to mine the ruins, along with soldiers with really bad disciplinary records. If the soldiers shape up they get to leave and if the prisoners complete their terms, they get a bonus and are free to go. Not many of them ever do." Tam'li jumped onto the wagon, fishing out another empty barrel before leaping back down. Roxas envied her energy. The T'assa never seemed to get tired although she could definitely get sore.

"Free to go? Isn't that a bit irresponsible, letting murderers go free?" Roxas asked and Tam grinned.

"Hah! Not at all. The Duke doesn't believe in life sentences so murderers just get hung. The men in the prison detail are guilty of crimes that don't quite merit execution. Lot of rapists and thieves…" They began filling up the next barrel as Axel and Isa were carrying theirs to the cart. "Anyway, those guys are bringing them food and tools. Mostly food."

"Ah." Roxas didn't ask why they wanted to come along with the caravan. That was obvious enough, there was safety in numbers. "So we're not going through the dead city?" It sounded too dangerous. Tam'li nodded.

"We're going around. It's still dangerous so keep your guard up – oh look at that!" Roxas followed the direction of her gaze and saw some of the fishermen had come back and they had some nice trout hanging from lines. "Fish stew tonight." Tam'li said happily and Roxas smiled. That would be tasty. "Blast!" Roxas looked back at Tam to see her scowling at her new bone trinket. It had turned black. "What's in this water anyway? Fortunately these things aren't hard to make…" Grumbling in annoyance she fished out another trinket and dunked it. Roxas watched patiently. He and Axel were getting a few lessons in magic although they hadn't gotten very far. Maybe someday he would be able to make trinkets like that.

Later that night, the two of them sat by the fire and ate their stew with the rest of the players. Tam'li told everyone a story full of magic and swords, punctuated by some real magic in the form of illusions over the fire. The heat from the fire gave it a dreamy quality and Roxas found himself entranced by the story. He didn't believe a word of it but who knew? In a place like this it might be true.

"I wonder if we could learn magic." Axel mused, watching the little flying man dancing over the flames. Roxas shuddered.

"More lessons?" He couldn't help but sound plaintive. Isa was still beating them up on a regular basis although Roxas was getting a lot better. Axel was progressing more slowly. Axel laughed softly and put an arm around him. Roxas smiled and nestled close, watching the display in the fire.

"Well, probably not with Isa." Axel said and Roxas glanced up, noticing the way the fire lit his hair and burnished his skin. Axel looked wonderful, relaxed and astonishingly happy. He was still having problems with the silence in his head but he seemed to be getting accustomed to the feeling of being watched. Rikku walked over and took a seat beside them with a smile.

"So! How are you two doing?" She asked cheerfully and Axel smiled back.

"Pretty good. And you?" He asked amiably as Roxas sat up with a sigh. He wanted to cuddle but not when someone was talking to them. Rikku made a face and shrugged.

"So-so. Has anyone talked to you about Ozyorsk yet?" Roxas and Axel traded a glance before the blonde shook his head. Rikku sighed, brushing back a bit of her hair. "They probably didn't think of it because you're boys. Well, you're both clueless so I figured I'd give you a warning. It's the seat of the area and the Duke of Offenburg is in residence there. The Duke likes to collect unique things." She said delicately, then snorted. "And if those unique things are people that's just too bad for them. We lost one of our dancers to him."

"Lost?" Roxas said, a note of tension entering his voice. "How?" Axel was pretty unique. He hadn't seen flame red hair in any of the players. Although if this Duke was interested in girls maybe he was worrying about nothing. Rikku grimaced.

"He was taken with her dancing and insisted she stay. He paid us twenty gold rondels to leave the city quickly. This was before Master Leon took over so we didn't have much choice. We wouldn't really have much choice now either." Her tone was regretful but pragmatic. "The Duke has an army. We might be good but we're no match for that." Roxas nodded reluctantly. The company was good but not that good.

"What happened to her? Do you know?" Axel asked worriedly. Rikku nodded.

"The Duke kept her as a concubine and had a son by her. She died in childbirth and the boy is his only child, so he acknowledged him as heir." Rikku frowned slightly and shrugged. "Maybe she stayed willingly… he could have showered her with gold and gems. But she sure didn't have a choice in the first place, that's for sure. Well, she's in a better place now. Just be careful okay? Not that either of you are that special." She added with a grin and Roxas made a face at her.

"Psh! We're more special than you know." Axel said, lifting his nose in the air. Rikku laughed uproariously before standing and leaving to go tend to some other camp chores. Roxas and Axel both helped the players clean the dishes in the lake before going to bed. "Aw, hi Ari." Axel picked up their cat, giving him a thorough petting. The Himalayan curled up in his arms and purred, looking up at him and blinking slowly. Roxas smiled to himself as he pulled off his clothes, putting on a nightshift. He'd been told that was cat for 'I love you' and he believed it. Axel finally gave the cat one last pet before setting him down and getting undressed. He could tell Roxas wasn't in the mood for anything more but that was fine. They were both tired and the night was turning cold. Roxas sighed as Axel slid into bed with him, sharing the warmth of his body and pulling the blankets firmly around them. They both fell asleep as Ari played with a little fabric ball.

Tomorrow would be another day.

* * *

"This place really blows Roxy." Axel said quietly as he watched the five carts trundle into the prison camp. Roxas nodded grimly as he peeked out of the front of the yurt.

"I know." The prison camp was big and ugly. A great hedge of stakes had been put into place around it and Roxas didn't want to know why. Unfortunately, they might find out. One of the new mares had suddenly conceived an irrational terror of Lupo and had worked herself into a hysterical colic, which had amused the miniature great dog greatly. Unfortunately, in a world where horses were the primary way to get around good ones were quite expensive. The caravan had halted to take care of the problem and managed to save the mares life, although Leon had vowed that if it happened again she would be shot. Roxas had been a bit confused… they had been delayed before but it had never generated such a reaction from the caravan master.

Now he understood why. It was still daylight but there was no way they could make it through the dead city before the sun set and they had been assured by both Tam'li and Isa that the city was _far_ more dangerous at night. Daytime travel was almost safe if you didn't enter the actual city but at night, you had best be miles away. Roxas watched anxiously as Leon spoke to the guards. Finally money changed hands and the guards stepped out of the way, letting the caravan into the prison camp.

"We're staying here for the night? Are we all going to fit?" Axel sounded worried and Roxas didn't blame him. The guards seemed alright, sort of, but this place was full of hardened criminals. You didn't get sent here for stealing bread. And big as the camp was the wagons took up a lot of room.

"I don't think – oh." Roxas watched as the players began unhitching some of the horses from the wagons, bringing them inside. "They're leaving some of the wagons." It looked like the water wagons were being left outside, probably because they would be hard to damage, and all the personal quarters. The food wagons and props were being brought inside and Roxas winced as he realized they'd have to leave the yurt. "Axel, grab the blankets, I'll get Ari." Axel nodded and began stripping the bed as Roxas found the cat and put him firmly in his carrier despite a pitiful, waving paw. The yurt almost seemed to understand what was happening and moved as close to the gate as it could before it settled down.

"I'm sorry about this everyone." Leon said grimly as the players assembled. "It's going to be a rough night but it's safer. Remember, everyone stay together at all times. Even when you piss. Got it?" There was a chorus of acknowledgments and Roxas winced, remembering Rikku's comment about rapists. Then he looked up as he felt Axel's hand on his back. The redhead smiled at him, amused.

"I'll look after you when you have to pee, don't worry." He promised and Roxas blushed, swatting him on the chest.

"Oh, hush you." He said but couldn't help but smile at the mischief in Axel's face. The redhead laughed and gave him a quick peck on the cheek. Several of the players were setting up tents and they pitched in to help. Everyone would be sharing the tents and Axel deliberately decided to join Tam'li and Isa. He was getting along better with the blue haired young man but that wasn't the real reason. Isa was deadly with his staff and he'd watched Tam'li idly throwing knives at a target once. The plant woman was extremely accurate without even trying.

"Lupo! Hupo! Get out!" Axel and Roxas almost regretted their decision as the dogs tried to join Tam'li in her shelter. "No! Rudolph is sleeping there! Go!" The miniature great dogs finally slunk out of the tent, utterly dejected. Rudolph, a young man with slate grey hair, found his place on the floor of the tent. "Hmph. Sorry about that." Tam'li apologized and he shook his head with a smile.

"Don't worry about it Tam. Want some bread?" He offered her a bit of trail bread and Tam'li accepted it with a nod. They weren't able to light fires in the prison camp so it was cold supper tonight. Roxas checked the bag he and Axel had been given and frowned.

"Trade you half an onion for some sausage?" He offered. Isa sneered at the thought but Tam'li laughed and made the trade. "Thanks." Axel munched quietly on his bread, washing it down with a bit of water. Tam'li said something to Isa and then Rudolph in a low tone and the two men nodded. Roxas watched as they pooled their blankets, sharing body heat without any sign of self-consciousness.

"Is it always this cold in the summer?" He suddenly asked. This seemed to be high summer yet the days weren't warm and the nights were outright cold. Tam'li looked up from the nest with a pained smile.

"No. It's something about the dead city, it sucks all the heat out of the air. Some effect of all the deaths that happened here. It will get warm again once we get past this place… until we reach Raven's Pass. Then we'll freeze our tushies off again." Tam sighed. "But at least that will be normal." Raven's Pass went high into the mountains and was cold even in the summer. In the winter it was impassable, but the caravan went much further south in the winter. Roxas nodded.

"Okay." As they fell asleep Roxas reflected on the dead city and wondered what it would be like. What tragedy had befallen it? Something so terrible it was still sucking the heat out of the air hundreds of years later. From the haunted look on his face, Axel was thinking the same thing. Roxas cuddled his lover close for a moment before getting Ari out of his cage. Firmly tying the leash to one of the tent posts, they managed to get the cat settled under the blankets, although he insisted on migrating to their feet. Roxas thought that was rather pleasant, as the warm cat fur warmed their toes. Then Axel swore quietly.

"Ari! Stop kneading my leg!" He hissed and Roxas laughed as the redhead shifted. "S'not funny." He groused.

"Sure it is." The blonde yawned and closed his eyes. "But I'm too tired to mock you properly…" He said sleepily and felt a gentle kiss on his cheek. It seemed like no time passed at all before he woke up again. But the pale light of dawn told Roxas that the night had passed. Groaning in pain from sleeping on the hard ground, he sat up. Or rather, tried to.

"Lupo!" Roxas tried to shift the 'dog' off his legs and realized, with horror, that he couldn't feel them. Sometime during the night Lupo and Hupo had decided to look for warmth when the comatose humans and T'assa couldn't stop them. Hupo looked to be having a go at smothering Rudolph. "Get off me!" Roxas hissed, trying not to wake everyone as he fought to remove the dog thing. Lupo just yawned widely, showing off his mouthful of ivory teeth before tucking his muzzle under Roxas's chin. "Augh!" He finally yelped and Tam'li woke up with a snort.

"What's – oh madness! Get out, you infernal demons of stupidity!" Tam'li began swearing in a language that sounded far too lyrical to be any good for swearing. But her tone made it clear that was what she was doing. She grabbed Lupo by his mane and dragged the monster off Roxas with a good tug. Axel woke up with a mild protest and both Isa and Rudolph were stirring. Rudolph suddenly realized his predicament and vented a small, shocked scream. "I'm coming!" Tam quickly got Hupo off the man and he began to frantically shake his arms to get the feeling back. Roxas winced in pain as a wave of pins and needles hit his legs, and began to massage them to get the blood flow back. Axel gently helped and Roxas smiled at the feeling of his strong hands on his legs. "I swear. If those beasts weren't so useful… ugh. Everyone stay here, I'll be right back." Tam'li staggered out of the tent and Roxas wondered where she was going. He found out a few moments later as she came back with handfuls of steaming mugs. "That coffee you brought." She clarified as she handed them the drinks. Coffee was very expensive here, almost as expensive as the pepper and the sugar so it was doled out sparingly. "Leon thought we'd all need it." Roxas could only agree as he took a mug. The heat of it warmed his hands and soon the coffee was doing the same to his insides as the caffeine did it's best to wake him up. Soon the coffee was nothing but a memory and Roxas was feeling almost human.

"Well, time to go pee. Who wants to be my buddy?" Isa asked with a toothy grin and Tam'li laughed uproariously.

"As if anyone would assrape you!" She got up to follow him though, setting down her empty mug. Axel groaned and stood, stretching.

"Me too… do you mind Roxy?" He asked and Roxas shook his head.

"I need to go too." They left the tent together to go find the latrines and Roxas reflected on how much his life had changed. He was actually getting used to pooping in the woods and peeing in trenches. The cities probably had plumbing, but the caravan never did. Soon the caravan was underway again and Roxas sighed as he curled up on the mattress in the yurt. He was still tired despite the coffee and a light breakfast of bread and onions. He really wanted nothing more than to sleep –

"Wow, Roxas! Come take a look at this." Axel sounded excited and Roxas pried himself out of the bed with a groan. Aristotle was curled up in the corner of the yurt, looking vaguely frightened and Roxas wondered why.

"Oh my god, what happened here?" He stared out of the yurt at the ruined city. They were passing to the right of it and he could clearly see the broken remains of sky scrapers jutting into the sky like decaying teeth. Twisted wreckage was scattered everywhere and if he hadn't known better Roxas would have thought it was the result of a nuclear explosion. But no, there was no melting. Just broken machines that looked like they'd suddenly come apart under unknown and unknowable forces.

"Yeah, but look at that!" Roxas followed Axel's pointing finger and gasped. A great plate of something yellow and glittering had fallen to the earth, taking out several buildings from the look of it. The beautiful… metal?... was embedded firmly in the ground and shone painfully even in the pale light of morning.

"It must have fallen from a great height." Roxas realized and glanced up. But there was nothing above the city now. Of course not. Whatever had kept it flying had stopped working and dropped it to the ground. "I wonder if there are more pieces like that?" He thought there must be and Axel nodded.

"I think I see another further along." Roxas squinted and could make out a shine of gold for a moment. "What happened here Roxy?" Axel sounded worried now and Roxas frowned before he shrugged.

"Ask the voice in your head." He suggested and immediately regretted it as Axel's eyes suddenly glazed over. The redhead spoke, his voice grating and resonating with that peculiar energy.

"Hatred happened here." Axel staggered after that brief pronouncement and Roxas had to grip his arm to keep him from falling out of the yurt. "Ow…" Axel shivered and suddenly seemed drained. "I – I think I'll go to bed Roxy." He said and Roxas bit his lip, feeling guilty for triggering an attack with a few stupid words.

"Sorry Axel." He gently helped the redhead to bed and glanced out the door of the yurt one last time, looking over the devastated city.

What kind of hatred had caused this he didn't know, but they would find no answers here.


	7. Speaker To The Gods

"Huff!" Axel grunted as helped Roxas manhandle some crude benches into place. "Now I know what a Metallica roadie feels like." He grumbled and Roxas snickered. There was a lot of truth behind it though. Neither of them had made it into the play so they were part of the crew, doing all the manual labor. Which was fine. Roxas just didn't want to get put on the latrine digging duty again. Or even worse, filling it up afterwards.

The trip through Raven's Pass had been cold but mostly uneventful except for a yeti eating one of the horses. Fortunately it had been smart enough to run away with the carcass when the caravan started shooting at it. Unfortunately, the horses had gone into hysterics and tried to bolt. It had been a mess to sort out. Roxas and Axel were both learning more about horse care than they had ever wanted to know, but the caravan as a whole hadn't suffered much. The horse they lost had been one of the oldest and most decrepit. Tam'li had cheerfully commented that they'd been close to feeding it to Hupo and Lupo anyway.

Now they were in Ozyorsk and the traveling players were going all out. Absolutely everything, no matter how old had been pulled out and put to use. Roxas sneezed at the strong scent of mildew from the tent he and Axel were working at setting up. Hopefully it would air out soon.

"The Grand Panuba. What's that supposed to be?" Axel asked and Roxas turned to look at a very colorful tent. There were tassels on the corners of it but he didn't remember seeing it in Akkady.

"It's you!" They both almost jumped out of their skin as Rikku slapped her hands down on their shoulders. Neither of them had known she was there. "Tam'li's busy so you get to be the voice of the gods today!" She began steering them towards the tent and Roxas began to get a very bad feeling about this.

"The voice of the gods?" Axel said warily and Roxas could tell he was just as uncertain. Rikku laughed lightly.

"Oh, it's not hard. Just ask non-directional questions. You've seen Tam do it!" Roxas suddenly remembered. Tam'li did a fortune telling act and it was actually pretty easy, a lot of peering into the 'crystal' ball and making muddled predictions. The customers only paid a few coppers and seemed to enjoy it. "And it's either this or dig the latrines. Which would you prefer?"

"Fortune telling please." Axel said instantly as Roxas grimaced. Rikku grinned and handed him a colorful turban. Axel quickly pulled it on and adjusted the large paste 'gem' in the front. Roxas had to snicker at the moth eaten and rather sad 'peacock' feathers waving over it. "What? Don't I look wonderful?" Axel posed for a moment then yelped as Rikku tossed a robe over his head.

"You look lovely. Now put that on!" Axel shrugged on the robe, belting it and Roxas bit his lip.

"Axel… what if you… you know?" Roxas asked quietly, hoping Rikku wouldn't hear. Axel dropped his voice.

"It'll just be a better show if I do." Axel said soothingly and Roxas nodded slowly. Axel definitely had a point. If he used that funny voice and made his uncanny predictions, it would just make for a better act. No one would take him seriously in this setting. Roxas pulled on a matching robe and some heavy bronze jewelry and started trying to entice customers in to speak with the oracle.

His barking was quickly rewarded when some young couples stepped in, giggling and having fun. Axel quickly put them at their ease and gave them a light, amusing fortune. They left laughing and Roxas relaxed even more. This was going to be easy. Several more people entered and left and the two of them were relaxing into a routine. Then a young man stepped into the tent. He had light brown hair and was thin and muscular. From the look of his hands, he was used to hard work. Roxas thought perhaps he was a horse trainer of some sort although he was far from certain.

"Hey there. Tell my fortune?" He said with a cheerful smile and Roxas could immediately tell he was in a very good mood. Axel smiled happily and nodded, gesturing to the seat.

"It would be my pleasure! Are you looking for love? A bit of adventure?" Axel asked teasingly and the man laughed.

"I'm looking for a fast horse! Do you know of any?" He said jokingly and Axel suddenly stiffened.

"Go to Media's and enter the first corral. Buy the stallion that tries to bite you, geld him and train him. In a year he will be the horse you seek." Axel winced and shook his head as the man stared at him. Roxas' uneasiness suddenly came back in full force as he saw the look on his face. He looked like he'd just had a revelation.

"Really?" The man blinked several times then suddenly reached into his belt pouch. Roxas blinked as he caught the gleam of silver before he pressed the coin into Axel's hand. "For the gods." He said with a sudden seriousness and left the tent with a purposeful stride. Axel looked at the coin, speechless. The most anyone usually paid for a fortune was a copper or two.

"Axel, I don't like this." Roxas said quietly and Axel shrugged before he made the coin disappear.

"Ah, come on Roxas. What can it hurt?" Roxas frowned but went back to his work at bringing in customers.

As the day went on word seemed to spread. Soon Roxas didn't have to work to get customers… there was a line going down the road. And plenty of the people were bringing Axel honey cakes and other high energy treats, which seemed to help him a great deal after he gave a real prophecy. At first Roxas was worried that the people who only got normal fortunes would be upset, but they seemed to take it philosophically. He overheard one old woman saying that the gods don't speak all the time. Did they really think Axel was speaking for the gods? Roxas smiled a bit at the thought. Axel as a priest was the strangest thing he'd ever heard of.

Abruptly the line started breaking up and Roxas blinked as he heard whispers traveling through the crowd. People were moving to a safe distance as a group of soldiers walked through the fairgrounds. They were wearing the blue and silver of the Duke and Roxas vaguely wondered where they were –

"??" Roxas stepped back a pace as the soldiers surrounded the tent. Axel peeked out, his expression worried as he glanced around. "Uh… can we help you?" This didn't look good. But what could they have done wrong? Schizophrenia wasn't like being a sexy dancer. The lead soldier stepped forward.

"You will come with us, by the command of the Duke." Roxas swallowed hard. He wished he had a weapon but really, it wouldn't have done much good. The soldiers were armed with guns. Very large antique ones, not nearly as dangerous as modern guns but still dangerous enough.

"This must be a mistake. We're merely traveling players, of no interest to –" That was as far as he got before one of the soldiers suddenly seemed to get impatient and lowered his gun. For Roxas time seemed to stretch out as he looked at the soldier in disbelief.

_Bang._

Roxas yelped in pain and gripped his arm, stunned to see the bloom of crimson there. The pain hadn't hit him yet, just an odd sense of pressure and shock. Axel suddenly stalked out of the tent, the feral glaze to his eyes… but Roxas could see true awareness underneath it. Axel was still in charge and he was very angry. He focused on the guard who had shot Roxas and the man leveled his gun at Axel. He was just about to say something when Axel said a word.

It was not a normal word. It was very short and simple but Roxas couldn't have repeated it if he spent a thousand years trying. It was the very essence of a simple thing, rendered into a command that was as inescapable as the very air. The magic of it beat the air like heavy satin wings and despite the horror of it, Roxas knew if that command had been given to him he would have obeyed. There would have been no choice. And his body instinctively understood the order Axel had given.

_Die._

The soldier went white as a bone and swayed, dropping his weapon. Everyone stared as the man slowly toppled over. Axel watched without pity or remorse as he stopped breathing and the feral glaze never left his eyes. He turned to look at the rest of the soldiers, who were still staring at their deceased comrade in shock.

_Go._ The second command hit the air like heavy glue. The soldiers immediately went, as fast as they could while still maintaining some semblance of dignity. The onlookers also vanished, not wanting to be anywhere near this. Axel took a deep breath and turned to Roxas, then gripped his arm.

"Axel –" Roxas tried to get him to stop but the redhead was still listening to the voices in his head. Axel stared hard at him for a moment before he spoke again. This time the word was different and Roxas was entranced by it. It was his name but… not. Or rather, it wasn't just his name. It was everything he was and everything he could ever be, encapsulated into one short phrase. The wound seemed to vanish and Roxas abruptly realized that the word had described an unhurt version of himself. And just like that, reality had obeyed. "Axel, stop!" Roxas said and Axel blinked, the feral look finally leaving his eyes. The redhead winced and gripped his head with one hand, pushing aside the turban and letting the heavy fabric fall to the ground. Roxas steadied him as he swayed.

"Did I do that?" Axel said vaguely, looking at the dead soldier with mild dismay. Roxas nodded, glancing around. Everyone was keeping their distance from them and no new soldiers had shown up but it was only a matter of time.

"Come on Axel, we need to go see Leon." Roxas began helping the redhead along when Axel suddenly fell against him. "Axel?" Roxas tried to help him stay on his feet but it was a lost cause. He lowered Axel to the ground, checking his breathing and then paled as he spotted what was sticking out of the back of his neck. "What the hell?!?" It was a dart, tassled with blue and silver. Roxas quickly yanked it out and looked up as he heard a faint crunch of dirt beneath a booted foot. "Isa?" For a brief moment Roxas was confused beyond belief. Then he noticed the differences. This man was alike enough to be Isa's twin but Isa had no scars on his face.

"You've met my brother? How amusing." He said in a warm, almost kind voice. "But you are only an impediment to our plans." Roxas snarled and tried to rush the man but he neatly sidestepped.

There was a flash of pain and then nothing at all.

* * *

Roxas woke to confusion and a blinding headache. The pain was so intense he didn't want to stir, and he kept his eyes closed as he vaguely listened to voices. At first it was just noise, but the tone reached him. The voices were quiet but the tone of the conversation was intense and angry. Gradually, the words began to make sense.

"…I don't care! Leon, this just isn't right." Roxas' befuddled mind put a name and a face to that high, sharp edged voice. Tam'li, but she was sounding more stressed and angry than he could ever remember. It didn't sound right on the cheerful alien.

"Tam, you need to stop this. I know it's sacred to your people but this isn't the rainforest and in case you hadn't noticed, we're outnumbered." That was Leon. He sounded angry but composed. "We've been given fifty gold rondels to leave immediately. That's more than this caravan could make in a season –"

"Are we slaves then? Things to be bought and sold?" Rikku's voice was hard. Roxas vaguely wondered what they were talking about. It seemed like he should know but he just couldn't remember…

"Of course not." Leon's tone was vehement and Roxas heard someone make a 'hmph' sound, but he wasn't sure who. "But we didn't try to save Nicola."

"She wasn't a speaker to the gods! And I don't care if this isn't the rainforest Leon, you humans revere them too! You heard how he killed that soldier, it was a word of creation! We can't just walk away!" Roxas' mind began to really function and he realized they were talking about Axel. He was starting to remember what had happened with the soldiers. Now if only he could properly wake up… "He just wanted Nicola in his bed. It wasn't the same! What's he going to do with Axel?"

"Probably just use him as an oracle – what?" Leon asked as someone coughed. Then another male voice spoke and Roxas identified it as Isa.

"No. I don't know what he's doing with them but my brother works for the Duke. He told me that they've collected three oracles so far but none of them worked out." There was a brief silence at that and Roxas finally managed to open his eyes. He blinked rapidly before seeing the traveling players exchanging a look.

"How does a speaker to the gods not work out?" Tam'li sounded even more furious now and Isa just shrugged. Roxas groaned and tried to sit up but Rikku's hand on his shoulder kept him down. He met her eyes and she smiled at him, the skin around her eyes tight with tension. Turning his head he saw that Tam'li was dressed in something he'd never seen before, leather armor with segments of lacquered bamboo worked onto it. Although it didn't quite look like bamboo. It was yellow and black like Tam'li's hair. "What does he do with them if they 'don't work out'? Isa?" She demanded sharply and the young man shrugged again.

"Axel." Roxas murmured and tried to sit up again but Rikku shook her head.

"No. You're badly hurt." She said soothingly, gently touching his head. Roxas blinked as he felt her fingers against his skull. Where had his hair on that side gone? "We had to do an operation to save your life. You almost died."

"How – how long?" He asked as the others continued arguing. Rikku seemed to understand.

"A day. We're still packing up." She tilted her head towards the others. "We only found out the full details of what had happened recently." They'd gotten a lot of misinformation and gross exaggeration before they managed to track down a really reliable eyewitness. Roxas swallowed. A day?

"I have to save Axel." He said, gripping Rikku's arm. "Please, help me up." Rikku hesitated then very gently helped him sit up. He still felt like a bomb went off in his head. Roxas had to struggle through violent nausea then wait for the world to stop spinning before he could speak. "I have to save Axel." He repeated and Tam'li nodded as Leon looked like he was getting a headache.

"Of course you do. You're his protector." Roxas blinked, wondering what that meant then recoiled as Tam suddenly got into his face. Rikku shoved the T'assa's shoulder but she ignored the blonde girl. "You! Why didn't you tell us he was a speaker to the gods?!? Why didn't you tell us you're his bodyguard?!? You stupid! We'd never have put him telling fortunes if we'd known!" Roxas bit his lip. What was Tam'li talking about? She seemed to know more about this than he did.

"I don't know what you mean. What's a speaker to the gods? And I'm not his bodyguard." Roxas said determinedly and Tam'li paused, staring at him. Then she groaned and slapped her head with one hand. Rikku sighed softly and took up the explanation when the alien woman clearly couldn't go on.

"Roxas, a speaker to the gods is a sacred thing, an oracle. They are born with the ability to commune with the other side." Rikku frowned faintly. "You should have seen it… it appears in the teenage years, usually. A blessed child will begin to hear voices and see strange things." Roxas blinked. Was she describing schizophrenia? "Those without good hearts will hear the voices of demons and usually need to be put down for the safety of all." Roxas flashed back to Axel's fear of demons. She _was_ describing schizophrenia. "But if the speaker has a good heart, he or she will hear the voice of the gods. That blots out anything else and they become an oracle." Roxas swallowed, remembering how all of Axel's normal symptoms seemed to have been replaced with the strange silence and watching feeling, followed by prophecies. "Most speakers can only tell the future but the most powerful can dictate to reality what it will be. That's called a word of creation. The witness said your Axel used one to kill a soldier?" Rikku made it a question and Roxas nodded.

"Then he made them leave and healed my arm." Rikku blinked and Tam'li's eyes widened.

"Three words in a row? Wow, he's strong!" Tam sounded amazed. Then her face hardened. "We can't leave him. It's blasphemous Leon!" The Caravan Master drew a deep breath, fingering his weapon for a moment before speaking.

"What you do is up to you Tam. But this caravan is my responsibility and I will not risk it for the life of one person. I'm sorry." Leon stalked out of the tent and Rikku bit her lip, avoiding Roxas' eyes. The blonde felt a moment of helplessness. He was still so hurt. How could he rescue Axel without the caravan behind him?

"We can't do this with brute force anyway." Isa's voice pulled him out of his thoughts and he turned to look at the blue haired man. "The Duke has an army. We'll have to be subtle." Tam'li looked at him, surprised.

"You'll help?" She hadn't expected that. "But your brother works for the Duke… hey. Can you use him to get us in?" She asked but Isa shook his head.

"No. Saix is faithful to the Duke." Isa frowned, scratching his back with a thumb. "I'm not really that fond of him and I like these two. But it's more than that. Saix said the other ones weren't strong enough, when I questioned him about it. Strong enough for what? What does the Duke want the gods to do? And can Axel do it?" Tam'li blinked, looking stunned for a moment. Roxas wondered why. She answered that question a moment later as she sputtered.

"You mean FORCE the gods to do something? That can't work! You have to petition them." Tam frowned slightly. "Although I can't see the Duke petitioning anything." The Duke was an arrogant and powerful man. Not the sort to accept any limitations on his abilities. Isa grinned, his teeth flashing in the dim light.

"Nor can I. But whatever we're going to do will have to wait for at least a day. That's how long it will take to finish putting Roxas' skull together. And I don't want to do this without the speaker's protector." Isa said and Roxas had to speak.

"Why do you call me that? I'm not his bodyguard even if I'm better with weapons." He grumped and Isa and Tam'li exchanged a look. "What?" Tam'li ruffled his remaining hair with a smile and he weakly batted her hand away.

"So ignorant! Roxas, a traveling speaker will always have a protector. Someone who can keep them safe and handle the minor things in life that speakers can forget when they're in the grip of the gods. Like, oh, eating." Tam'li grinned cheerfully. "Even if they don't start out with a protector, one will find them. It's the classic pattern. Really, I should have seen it when you showed up with all those odd things. But speakers are so rare and holy!" Tam'li shook her head and gently helped him lie back down as Rikku checked him over. "But you rest now. Whatever the Duke is doing with Axel, hopefully it will take a while." Roxas wanted to protest that they needed to go after Axel right now. He didn't trust the Duke not to kill the redhead by accident. He didn't think he could go on if anything happened to Axel. But then Rikku did something to his head that made stars explode behind his eyes.

Roxas slid into red tinged darkness.


	8. What the Gods Want

"Father, are you sure about this?"

"Of course I am." The Duke said impatiently. He was a tall man with deeply tanned skin and pure white hair. Not many people knew, but his first name was Xemnas. "Be quiet Riku and start the equipment."

"Yes father." The silver haired boy said tonelessly, yanking hard on a blue lever. Why it was blue he had no idea. Red would have seemed more appropriate. There was no reaction from the young man strapped to the table, but that was fine. A heavy silence descended over them. It was not a normal silence. It pressed like cotton on the ears and any attempt at speech or sound of any sort was muffled thoroughly. It was an unpleasant feeling and Riku had to resist the urge to poke at his ears. Xemnas didn't seem to notice. He was staring at the redhead intently.

As they waited for the stranger to wake Riku leaned against the wall and reflected on his life. He hated it. His father was almost impossible to please and always treated him like an idiot when he wasn't using him as a helper for his insane experiments. The fact that many of his experiments seemed posed for success did not make them any less insane.

It didn't help that Riku felt out of place, period. He didn't like the city. It was cold, damp and stank horribly from the smelters. He'd been born here and lived here all his life, he knew he should have been used to it. But somehow, it always grated on him. It felt like he belonged in a sunnier place. Someplace where things were nice and logical and you didn't have crazy magic and crazier technology that you had to be a wizard to master…

Riku came out of his reverie as the redhead stirred. Eyelids flickered and Riku was startled by the brilliant green of his eyes. Red hair was very rare and eyes like that were even moreso. Where had this Speaker come from? Some far away land where it was warm?

The redhead was dazed for a long moment, but then he seemed to come to his senses. From his expression, he was not at all pleased with them. He opened his mouth to speak but nothing came out. Or rather, the sounds were immediately muffled. The redhead stopped, a shocked expression on his face. Riku watched as his eyes narrowed in concentration and his mouth moved again. The Duke was staring intently at the meters and Riku swallowed as he followed his gaze. The gauges were pushing well into the yellow. Xemnas gestured at him imperiously and Riku's lips tightened into a thin, hard line before he pushed a bright yellow button. He thought that should be red too.

_Hate this hate this hate this._ Riku kept his gaze averted from the Speaker. He didn't want to see the painful electrical jolt his action had given him. Not being able to hear anything helped but the silver haired boy still hated himself. But he was too afraid of his father to try to stop it. He couldn't anyway… and he was even more afraid of Saix. The two of them would not hesitate to punish him, as he knew from bitter experience.

Glancing back he saw, to his alarm, that the gauges were solidly in the red. Looking at the redhead he could see the fury and pain on his face as he kept trying to speak. The silence was growing ever more oppressive as the equipment struggled to hold back the words of creation. Riku shifted nervously. If his father didn't do something soon the equipment might short circuit and then there would be nothing holding the Speaker back.

The Duke had evidently come to the same conclusion. He gestured imperiously to Riku and he quickly got out the medical kit, putting a tourniquet on the Speaker's arm. That wasn't difficult at all, thanks to the leather restraining straps. From the look on his face, though, the redhead would cheerfully have killed them both. Riku couldn't really blame him and he felt a great relief as his father administered an injection. Soon the Speaker was fighting to stay awake and clearly losing the battle. His head dropped down but Xemnas took no chances, carefully peeling back an eyelid and checking his vitals to make sure the man was unconscious. Then he finally turned off the machines.

"That was excellent. The best readings I've ever seen." Xemnas lifted a sheaf of paper that showed a long, scrawling line. Riku didn't bother to look. He didn't really understand his father's experiments although he was a capable technician. "He will be strong enough." Riku frowned at that. It wasn't the first time his father had said that.

"Father, if this doesn't work will we give up?" Riku asked cautiously. Xemnas scowled at him.

"It will work." Riku held back a sigh. That meant no. He hated to think of all the Speakers that had come and gone before this one. A failure was inevitably fatal. And a success was… Riku wasn't sure what. When Xemnas spoke of his plans he made it sound altruistic, almost noble despite the terrible costs involved. He would have fooled someone who didn't know him as intimately as his son, but Riku did know his father and he doubted the Duke had an altruistic bone in his body. No, there had to be more to it. On the other hand, it didn't really matter.

There was nothing he could do to stop it.

* * *

"You be good, you hear?" Roxas said to Aristotle. The cat looked at him pathetically, poking a soft paw through the grate on his carrier. Rikku gave him a sad smile.

"I'll take care of him." She promised as Roxas gently touched the cats paw. He knew it was likely the last time he would see his pet.

Roxas had finally finished healing, although Tam'li was a bit ambivalent about the state of his skull. She'd found a leather helmet for him to wear and hopefully that would provide enough protection. The caravan was a day out of town and now it was time for them to go back. Fortunately it wouldn't be hard to slip back in. There were plenty of visitors and traders this time of year. But none of them would have a cat and it wouldn't be safe for Aristotle anyway. He was staying with Rikku and Roxas thought there was a very good chance he and Axel wouldn't be able to claim him again.

"I know you will." Roxas murmured then winced as little claws caught on his finger. He pulled his hand away and Ari mewed pitifully. "Thank you Rikku."

"It's nothing." She said with a grin. "Taking care of Hupo and Lupo without Tam'li is going to be a much bigger chore!" Roxas winced at that. The two miniature great dogs were already sensing Tam'li's departure and were doing their best to prevent it… or come along. They'd finally had to tie them up on one of the wagons and the howling was disturbing the horses. Tam said they would be fine once she was fully out of their scent range though. "You better get going. Isa's looking impatient."

"Right." Roxas quickly went to join the others. Leon was feeling more than a bit guilty for not actively helping so they'd been given some of the best horses in the caravan. Well, Tam and Isa had. In recognition of Roxas riding skills – which were nil – he'd been given a very good tempered mule.

"Ready to go?" Tam'li asked cheerfully. She was wearing her bamboo armor and a poncho over it. Her people were common enough in the city that she wasn't worried about being recognized. Isa was the only one really concerned, and his hair had been braided and tucked under a leather helmet that matched Roxas'. Along with his poncho and the heavy goggles he was wearing, it would be hard for anyone to recognize him as Saix' brother. According to Isa that was important since Saix would certainly guess what was happening if he was spotted.

It took most of the day for them to get back into Ozyorsk and Roxas bedgrudged every moment of it. As they traveled, Isa and Tam'li hatched a rudimentary plan.

"You're sure about that?" Tam'li said doubtfully as Isa told them his scheme. The blue haired man shrugged.

"No, but it's probably the best we've got. We'll just have to be quick. I don't think the Duke employs any T'assa." Tam grimaced at that and Roxas frowned. Isa's plan was simple but audacious. He thought they should steal some uniforms from the cleaners who handled them, use them as a disguise and sneak into the castle though the servants entrance. Isa was very familiar with that from the times Saix had –

"Wait. You said you went through the back entrance to report to your brother?" Roxas suddenly said and Isa nodded. He'd related rumors and information to Saix for a small fee, although nothing that could harm the caravan. "Why don't we just go straight in and say we have important information about Axel?" Isa blinked and Tam'li scratched her head, making her cellulose hair rattle.

"The guards would send a message to Saix and try to hold us there. We'd have to overcome them and might end up fighting my brother." Isa thought about it a moment later then nodded slowly. "But we would definitely make it in."

"I like that better. There's no way to disguise what I am and still wear a servant's uniform." Tam'li said firmly and Isa grimaced. That had been the weakest part of his plan. "Once we're inside we just play it by ear?"

"Yes. We don't have enough information to do anything else." Isa shook his head. "We don't even know where he's being held."

"Oh that's easy!" Tam said cheerfully as her horse stepped over a large pothole in the road. "Just question someone at knifepoint. We'll know in a hurry!" Isa chuckled softly, a rough, growling sound and Roxas blinked. He was suddenly reminded that Isa and Tam were both very accustomed to violence. Someone would probably be dead before the night was over, likely several someone's. For a moment that bothered the blonde but then he firmly set it aside. If that was the price of Axel's freedom, so be it.

They entered Ozyorsk without incident and Roxas got his first good look at the city. He'd seen it from outside, of course, but he hadn't gotten a chance to go in and really explore. Unlike the last town, which had been mostly wood, Ozyorsk was largely made of grey stone. The people seemed happy enough and fairly prosperous but Roxas noted how many soldiers there were coming and going. And over it all towered the Duke's castle. It was a huge building that made Roxas think of a cartoon castle. It had four great towers, one on each corner. The blonde wrinkled his nose as they passed by the slaughterhouse district. There was a subtle miasma over the entire city from the smelters, but there was nothing subtle about the stench coming from the rendering plants. Tam'li's horse whinnied at the scent, until the plant woman hissed and thumped the mare on her shoulder.

"Stupid animals. Not nearly as smart as real great dogs." Tam'li groused and Isa glanced at her.

"A lot cheaper to feed though. Great dogs need to eat a horse every three or four days." Isa pointed out and Tam nodded with a grimace. Roxas frowned, feeling like he was losing part of the conversation.

"Hupo and Lupo don't eat that much." He protested mildly. As far as he could see, they ate exactly like dogs. Tam'li even fed them a dried meat chow that reminded him of dog food.

"Hupo and Lupo are miniature great dogs." Tam'li corrected him and Roxas blinked. "Real great dogs are as big as a horse and they hunt in packs. Fortunately my people have domesticated them forever or they'd be dangerous!" She shrugged, her bamboo armor rattling. "Well, feral ones are dangerous but they'll stay away from the tame ones."

"Ah." Roxas tried to picture a creature that looked like Hupo and Lupo but was big enough to ride and wished he could see one. That sounded like a lot of fun actually. "Where are we going?" He was very vague on that. Isa flashed him a grin.

"An inn. We'll have to wait for nightfall." Was all he said and Roxas nodded. That made sense although he begrudged every moment. They finally found an inn that suited Isa, a very out of the way place with a clientele who looked like they would ask no questions and give even fewer answers. Tam and Roxas settled in the horses as Isa dickered with the innkeeper. Roxas groomed his mule carefully, trying to take his mind off the worry.

A lot could happen before nightfall.

* * *

"We'll have to wait for nightfall." The Duke was looking at his star charts and calculations. Riku crossed his arms over his chest, leaning against the wall as he looked at the Speaker. He was still unconscious although they had to monitor him carefully. He couldn't be allowed to waken before it was time. "Riku! Pay attention."

"Yes father." The silver haired boy said tonelessly, looking at the charts. Despite his training they were very hard to understand. Sometimes he wondered why he had to help his father with this but he knew the answer. Young as Riku was, Xemnas felt he could trust him. He didn't feel that way about the mechanics for hire in the city. Riku concentrated as the Duke explained what he wanted him to do. It was no different from the other times but no mistakes could be allowed.

Riku's mind wandered as his father went back to his private plans and calculations. Sometimes he wondered what it would have been like to be a child in a normal family, like the ones he had read about. Where children went to grammarie and had _friends_. Riku was the only noble child in the castle and the Duke was quite firm about his standing in life. And the tutors he'd had were just so dreary. From the books grammarie wasn't an entirely positive experience, but it had to be better than nothing, didn't it?

The sight of foggy green eyes pulled him out of his reverie and Riku felt vaguely ashamed for his selfish thoughts. His problems were relatively minor compared to some. As the Duke checked his instruments Riku fetched a glass of water for the Speaker. It was a little dangerous but they had to let him come out of the drugs a bit. He needed to be able to speak for the procedure. Soon they would have to gag him.

"Need some water?" Riku asked but the man didn't really respond, just staring at him with those bright green eyes. "Here." Riku carefully helped him drink. "…Sorry." He said softly, vaguely hoping the Speaker's protector wouldn't try to save him. They always did though.

None of the others had survived.

* * *

Isa casually hitched the horses up to the hitching post outside the servant's entrance. Roxas licked a bit of sweat off his lip, looking up into the sky. It was nearly midnight. Would they be here in time?

"I'm here to see my brother." Roxas pulled his attention back to reality as he heard Isa growl at one of the guards. One of them seemed ready to protest but the other examined Isa carefully and nodded. Roxas wasn't surprised. The resemblance between Isa and Saix was uncanny.

"May I ask what about sir?" The second guard asked politely. Isa shook his head.

"You may not. Bring us to him." The guard frowned at that and gestured sharply to his partner. Roxas felt hyper alert as the first guard led them into the castle and the second followed behind them. But even so, he almost missed Isa's gesture.

Almost, but not quite. Tam'li fell back gracefully as Roxas grabbed the second guard's arm, jerking him offstride. Tam's dagger took him in the side, angled to hit his heart and he went down with a jerk and a gasp. The first guard was caught easily by Isa, who easily strangled him into submission.

"Scream and you will die." Isa said harshly as he eased up on his grip enough for the man to speak. Roxas saw the fear on his face and almost felt bad for him. Almost. "Tell us where the Speaker is being kept."

"The North tower." The man gasped out. Isa stared at him with narrowed eyes.

"And the way to reach it?" He prompted the guard, who did his best to give them instructions. Roxas bit his lip. This wasn't going to be easy. "Hm. Yes. Tam, the rope." Tam'li nodded and pulled out the rope they had brought. Isa quickly tied the guard with it. "We don't have much time. Let's go." They were trusting in speed over stealth now. Isa gagged the guard, crudely but efficiently and strode off purposefully.

Roxas and Tam'li gave their trust to Isa, following him and keeping a wary eye out for anyone who would sound the alarm. But the dark stone corridors seemed deserted. Roxas vaguely wondered if that might be because of what the Duke was doing in his tower. The Speakers were sacred to humans as well as T'assa and this was rankest blasphemy, from what the others had said. Although it was still hard for him to imagine Axel as a priest. But then, he wasn't really that. He was an oracle, like the ancient Greeks had. And like those oracles his foretellings could lead to disaster.

"Hst!" Isa darted into a small, dark room. Roxas and Tam'li followed just in time as a group of soldiers turned the corner, laughing and chatting. They went by without noticing anything and Isa cautiously looked out when they were gone. "That was too close. The echoes in here are hard to read." Isa was moving again and they both hurried to keep up. They finally found the tower, just barely avoiding another incident. They heard the sound of shouts and alarms just as they began walking up the stairs and Tam'li grimaced.

"What do you bet they just found the guards?" Tam said and Roxas saved his breath, concentrating on the stairs. They were both narrow and steep and there was only a very crude, rickety handrail. The castle was ancient and not really built for comfort, in a lot of ways.

"I'm sure." Isa purred, pulling out his sword and sniffing the air. "My brother is here. Come, let us do this." Roxas swallowed at the thought of facing Saix again, but got ready with his quarterstaff. Tam'li already had her sword and dagger ready.

Ready or not, they were going in.

* * *

The power was building. Riku watched the gauges carefully as Saix stood by his father. It was his duty to make sure nothing went wrong with the power supply. But he couldn't resist occasionally glancing at the Speaker. He'd never seen anything like this before. Little sparks were flying in the red hair, and the Speaker's green eyes were glowing with an alarming light. He was clearly in immense pain but there was a strange exaltation underneath it. That was new. The sparks and glowing were new too. None of the other Speakers had reacted like this.

Riku glanced back at the gauges and carefully adjusted the power supply. _Something_ was happening, the power was vanishing much quicker than it ever had before, but was that good? From the Duke's laughter it was. Riku shivered, wishing his father didn't sound so… crazy at times like this. Saix seemed completely unaffected, leaning against his quarterstaff as if he were bored –

"_Green Lady! Shalosi! Verda!"_ The war cry startled them all. They were even more surprised to see a plant woman in bamboo armor racing into the room. The blonde was not much of a surprise… but Saix was clearly nonplussed by the third member of the group.

"Isa, what do you think you're doing?" The werewolf roared and his brother's roar was equally loud.

"Stopping you!" The Duke's guards engaged the other two but Riku didn't think they were going to win. They'd usually counted on Saix to deal with problems like this but if that was his brother, this was going to be a problem. Xemnas seemed utterly unconcerned, picking up his helmet and putting it on. It connected him to the Speaker and the equipment with black cords and Riku swallowed hard. They'd never gotten this far before. Was it really going to work?

"Riku, put on your helmet." His father said sharply and Riku scrambled to get his part of the gear. Fear dried his mouth as he pulled it on but he didn't dare disobey. If his father didn't kill him than the Speaker's protectors would –

Riku gasped as emotions and feelings that were not his assaulted his mind. The feeling was accompanied by a tremendous sensation of shock, as though he'd been tossed bodily into a great pool of water. Riku was vaguely aware that Xemnas was taking his strength, using it for his own ends but he was too caught up in what he was feeling to care. There was pain to it but there was something underneath that, a glory so powerful it was almost painful as well.

_He is lying to you. _Riku's eyes glazed over as he heard that voice, as clearly as if it was speaking in his ear. It was coming _from_ the Speaker but it wasn't him. It was female and distant as the coldest winter winds. _He will not do what he says._

"I know." Riku whispered softly. He'd always known his father was lying about his intentions. The voice laughed and suddenly took the tone of a man. Was this the gods? Was he hearing them _through_ the Speaker? The red haired man was twitching in pain yet caught up in that glory.

_Yet he does not lie about the danger. You must act now if you would save your world from the menace in the skies and the menace beside you._ Riku found his fingers wandering over the gauges. Yes. If he changed this one just a bit and then flipped _this _one and then reversed –

Xemnas screamed like a soul in hell as the feedback Riku had initiated ripped through him like the hammer of an angry god. Freed from the compulsion to silence, Axel finally spoke. The words of creation hammered the air and the walls of the tower exploded, bricks flying through the air with the force of a catapult. Isa and Saix were both caught off balance and tumbled off the edge, locked in a deadly embrace. Tam'li managed to catch Roxas and save him from a similar fate but the one surviving guard lost his footing and followed them with a scream. Riku flipped the gauges back as the Speaker stood.

"Axel! Come on, we have to – oof!" Roxas tried to pull away the helmet Axel was wearing and was shocked for his pains. Tam'li was peering helplessly into the gloomy waters of the moat, trying to find Isa but she looked up at the sound. "Axel, what are you doing?" Roxas demanded then stepped back as the redhead turned to meet his gaze. His eyes were still glowing and sparks were dancing in his hair. Whatever Xemnas had done, it hadn't ended with his death.

"What I must." It wasn't the voice of the gods, not as it had been before. This was the female voice again, twisting the timber of Axel's voice into a higher register. Axel plucked the third helmet from Xemnas' head, ignoring the stench of the body and holding it out to Roxas. "Put this on." Roxas took the helmet automatically but shook his head.

"Why?" He demanded and Tam'li cursed, hearing the sounds of feet coming up the stairs. Axel frowned, thinking a moment then shaking his head.

"There is no time for explanations. Tam'li, come." The T'assa looked over, startled. Axel gestured imperiously and she knelt before him, bowing her head. Axel placed his hand on her forehead and Roxas was reminded of a benediction. But then Tam'li yelped as if he'd stung her. "You will guard the door. The Beast is yours."

"Oh yes!" Tam agreed reverently, raising her head. Roxas was startled to see a feral battle lust in her eyes, which had taken on a red glow. "I will not fail you, Green Lady."

"No, you will not." There was no doubt in that female voice, only cold certainty. He turned his head to look at Roxas. "Roxas, this planet was quarantined a very long time ago due to a kind of infection. The way technology doesn't work properly here is a sign of it. The galactic civilization that quarantined this place set up a watcher, an AI system that has been monitoring this planet for ages." Axel… no, the Green Lady… explained. "But that civilization has come and gone. No one monitors the AI anymore. In time it will go insane and decide it has detected too much infection. It will bombard this word with 'clean' nuclear missiles designed to eradicate all life but leave the biosphere reasonably intact." Roxas stared, trying to take in everything she was saying. It was a lot of information. Riku just nodded. His father had found records about the AI and managed to confirm its existence. "Xemnas meant to seize control of the AI and hold the world hostage. We will simply destroy it. Now come, this world needs you."

"This is why we're here, isn't it?" Roxas suddenly realized. "You brought us here for this!" Axel paused a moment then nodded.

"Indeed. Only a Speaker who has not been using his gift could survive what I will need. Even so, it might burn out part of his mind." Axel paused, then smiled. "But you might prefer it so." Roxas was going to ask what that meant when the redhead gestured at him again. "There is no more time. Put on the helmet!" Roxas glanced back and saw Tam'li engaging the first of the soldiers. She was moving more like Isa, insanely strong and utterly violent but they still didn't have much time. But could he trust the gods? Could he afford not to?

Roxas jammed the helmet on his head, ignoring the stink of burnt hair. Riku cried out again as the connection was renewed but this time it was led by Axel. They struck out as one, guided by the greater power that was flowing through them and Roxas and Riku could both feel Axel's pain and strain. It was almost too much for him but he managed it and they touched something even more alien than the touch of the Green Lady.

_unauthorized access. _Roxas had never heard a computer before and hoped to never hear one again. This voice had no emotion, no arc or inflection of any kind. It was simply words, carved out of cold marble. It was like a wind suddenly banging open the windows, shocking and hard to endure. _countermeasures activated. threat parameters engaged._ The AI moved to challenge them, then hesitated. Roxas could feel a sensation akin to puzzlement from the machine. It couldn't understand the four part synergy it faced, three human minds and one immortal. And through that chink the Green Lady struck.

The pressure on all three of them was unbelievable as the Green Lady channeled her strength through them ruthlessly. But Axel bore the brunt of it and to Roxas' horror, he could feel the redhead dying by inches under the onslaught. But the AI was thrown into a flurry of panic, trying desperately to reach its self-destruct sequences, to launch the missiles that would destroy this world. But the Green Lady shoved it aside and all the city – no, all the world looked up as the night sky suddenly shone with a light to rival the sun. The explosions from orbit obliterated what was left of the AI and Roxas felt a surge of relief as the connection was lost.

But it wasn't over. The Green Lady and all the other gods, dimly sensed but boiling up beneath her more powerful grasp, turned on them and channeled their strength through Axel once again. The redhead spoke words of creation and Riku screamed as the world went grey and dim.

Then everything went black.


	9. Fin

"What do you suppose happened to them?"

"I'm more concerned about what's going to happen to us." Isa growled, peering out of the bushes alertly. Tam'li made a face at him before sitting back against her tree.

They were on the run. Saix and Isa had both survived the tumble into the moat, and Tam'li had leapt into it as well after the boys had vanished. Normally that would have been fatal to a T'assa, but bolstered by the Beast, she had survived as well. The god of feral instincts and the monster within, he had graced her with his power just long enough. They had managed to meet up on the shore and escape before Saix could gather up some reinforcements.

Unfortunately, Saix's survival meant they had to escape very, very quickly. Isa was dead certain his brother would be hunting them down and had delicately hinted at the fact that he and the Duke had enjoyed a more intimate relationship than master and servant. Hints that were wasted when Tam'li asked him flat out if they had been having buttsex.

So now they were hiding in the bushes as a troop of soldiers went by, trying to plan their next move. Tam'li peeked out for a moment before shaking her head, setting her hair to rattling.

"We can't meet up with the caravan. That would put them all in danger." She said and Isa frowned before nodding reluctantly.

"Saix is vengeful and we're both hard to hide. But what do you suggest?" He asked and Tam'li tilted her head to one side, considering. Then she smiled.

"Why don't we go East?" She suggested and Isa looked at her curiously. "Past the God's Breath mountains. I've never been that far. No idea what's over there."

"I've heard they're cannibals and the women have no souls." Isa said contemplatively and Tam rolled her eyes. "Sounds excellent. Let's go." Tam'li grinned and nodded, leaning back again and folding her hands behind her head.

"I'll miss Hupo and Lupo but it's just as well. It would be a pain to feed them on our own." Tam'li closed her eyes for a moment, resting. "But I still wish I knew what happened to them…"

"So do I." Isa said quietly. Axel, Roxas and Riku had simply vanished after the explosion. All the equipment had been burnt out and useless even if they'd had time to check it, which they hadn't. The three of them were just… gone.

He hoped they'd gone to a better place.

* * *

Roxas stirred and sat up, hitting his head on the underside of a chair.

"Unh?" The blonde blinked and crawled out from under the table, glancing around. He stared in stunned disbelief at the home he and Axel had abandoned weeks ago. It was just the same as it had always been. Roxas heard something ding and glanced over at the kitchen, seeing that the toast had just popped up. There was a pot of coffee perking merrily away and Roxas slowly began to relax. It must have all been a dream. An incredibly realistic, long lasting dream.

"Ow." Roxas turned sharply at the muffled complaint and stared as he saw familiar silver hair. It was that boy, the one who looked like the Duke. "Where am I?" He seemed dazed and Roxas suddenly paled.

"Axel." Ignoring the boy, he searched for his love. The redhead was sprawled across the living room carpet, unmoving and breathing deeply. "Axel, wake up." Roxas shook him gently, then harder when the redhead didn't stir. "Axel!" Roxas bit his lip, then snapped at the boy. "Call 911."

"What?" He said blankly and Roxas realized he couldn't have the least idea what 911 was. Or a telephone for that matter. Cursing, Roxas quickly went to the phone and heard the familiar dial tone. The operator on the other end had him check Axel's vitals, then assured him an ambulence was on the way. Setting down the phone, Roxas turned to the boy.

"I'm sorry. What's your name?" For the first time Roxas had leisure to examine the boy and realized he was younger than he'd thought. No older than fifteen and maybe a bit younger. The muscular build had fooled him into thinking he was older.

"I'm Riku. What happened?" Riku was looking out the window and looked very disturbed. Roxas followed his gaze and saw a bright blue sky. It was utterly unlike the greenish blue of Riku's world.

"This is our home. It's another world." Roxas hoped Riku wouldn't freak. But the Duke's son seemed intrigued.

"Is it warm?" There was a strange longing in the silver haired boy's voice and Roxas blinked at him. But then the doorbell rang and Roxas ran to answer it. It was the paramedics and they quickly had Axel in a stretcher, carrying him to the ambulance. Roxas hesitated a moment when they told him only one person could come on the ambulance.

"Just stay here." Roxas told Riku, who looked at him helplessly. "I'll send someone to help you, alright?"

"Okay." Riku closed the door, peeking outside curiously. Everything here was alien to him but that was not unwelcome. The silver haired boy could see _vehicles_, things that would never have worked in his own world and he ached to understand them. He wanted to go out and look and experience what this place had to offer. But there would be time for that later.

All the time in the world.

* * *

_A week later._

"I saw Sora at work today." Roxas spoke softly to Axel, gently touching his hand. The doctors weren't certain whether or not the redhead could hear him but it certainly couldn't hurt. "He had Riku with him. They're really getting along well. Sora says it feels like he's met his soulmate and Riku feels like he always belonged here." Roxas paused, feeling the tears pricking at his eyes. Seeing the two of them so happy hurt. It hurt a lot, but it wasn't their fault Axel was in a coma so he'd tried to be happy for them. "Axel… please, come back to me." He whispered, gripping Axel's hand tightly.

The doctors were very confused by Axel's condition. They'd finally labeled it a stroke. Roxas knew better, but he didn't think an explanation would go over well so he'd stayed quiet. It didn't make much difference for the treatment. The scans and tests had showed a peculiar pattern of damage in the redhead's brain, as if tiny pieces of it had been seared out. It made Roxas want to curse the gods. Had it really been necessary to send them home? If only they hadn't done that, maybe Axel wouldn't be in this state. They'd still be stranded in an alien world but that would have been a small price to pay to have his love by his side.

Roxas stayed as long as he could, but he finally had to leave. He still had a job and there were still bills to pay. Thankfully, Medicaid would pay for the hospital stay. Roxas could never have hoped to touch those bills. His parents were helping as well, shocked by the sudden change in Axel's condition. Roxas went to bed as soon as he got home, but the bed felt so lonely...

_Briiiiing!_ Roxas groaned as the phone went off. It felt like he'd gotten no sleep at all and prying open one eye, he saw it was two in the morning. Who could be calling at this hour?

"Hello?" He mumbled as he grabbed the handset. A faint, tinny voice spoke in his ear.

_Roxas? I'm calling about Axel's condition._ Roxas' stomach lurched and he was suddenly wide awake. _He's awake and asking for you. If you could come down to the hospital please?_

"Oh god, really? I'll come right away." Hanging up, he quickly dialed his parents number. They wouldn't be happy at being woken this late either, but they would be willing to help. It didn't take long for his father to arrive and soon they were on their way to the hospital.

When they arrived Axel was awake, sitting up and smiling. He looked happier than Roxas had seen him in years although he was weak as a kitten. Roxas found that out when a too vigorous hug almost knocked Axel back onto the bed.

"Ow, hey! I'm okay, don't crush me." Axel said jokingly and Roxas almost started to cry. It was so _good_ to hear him again. "Roxas, I'm so happy." The redhead murmured in his ear as the nurse left, giving them some time alone.

"I'm so happy too." Roxas sniffed and smiled, feeling like his heart might burst. It was perfect. They were home again and Axel was well. Or at least as well as he'd always been. The only thing missing was Aristotle, and he was sure Rikku would take good care of the cat. Axel laughed and it sounded so carefree and happy.

" Not for the same reason though!" Roxas blinked at him uncomprehendingly and Axel lowered his voice. "Roxy, I felt what the Green Lady was thinking, sort of, when she used me." Axel didn't like to think of how the touch of that alien 'mind' had overwhelmed his. He wasn't sure what the gods were, exactly, but they weren't easy on their chosen vessels. Still... "She burned out my gift. She had to, to make this work." Axel sounded overjoyed and Roxas' eyes widened as he began to understand. "I'm _normal _Roxas. I'm not going to hear voices or see demons again!"

"We should be careful Axel." Roxas quickly cautioned the redhead. "Make sure of that before we discontinue all your medication." Although to make sure of it they might have to take him off. Axel shrugged with a smile.

"You'll see Roxas. I'm fine now. I'll be able to get a job and you'll be able to go to school and it's just perfect." Axel spread his arms widely, grinning. "Give me another hug!" Roxas laughed and obliged, wondering if Axel was right. He wanted to believe it but didn't want to deal with crushed hopes.

But they would find out soon enough.

* * *

_As it turned out, Axel was correct. He would never show any sign of mental illness again although it would take some time for the doctors to consider him cured. He ended up having to endure many, many tests as the doctors tried to determine exactly how his 'stroke' had cured his schizophrenia. Axel and Roxas both wished them luck but doubted they would ever be able to replicate it. The gods had used a red hot needle to sear away the parts of his mind that could carry them. Anything mortals could do would be like a chainsaw in comparison._

_Once it was clear that Axel was cured, Roxas' parents opened their home to them again. Axel decided to take up a trade and became an apprentice plumber as Roxas went to university. Eventually the blonde got a degree in Journalism and managed to secure a job as a reporter at the local newspaper. They were never rich but they made a good living and soon owned their own home. And most of all, they were both happy._

_Riku settled into his new life with a great relief, despite the difficulties with paperwork. Finally, he had found a world that made sense. He quickly showed a great aptitude for machines and eventually became an auto mechanic. His friendship with Sora deepened into love and they were every bit as happy as Axel and Roxas._

_In a far off future in a galaxy far away, Isa and Tam'li went on to have many adventures. And Aristotle lived to a ripe old age, the pampered pet of the caravan._

_And now we have reached..._

_~The End~_


End file.
